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OBSERVATIONS 



THE HISTORICAL WORK 



OF THE LATE 



RIGHT HONORABLE CHARLES JAMES FOX. 



BY THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE ROSE. 



WITH 

A NARRATIVE 

OF 

THE EVENTS WHICH OCCURRED IN THE ENTERPRISE 
OF THE EARL OF ARGYLE, IN 1685, 

BY SIR PATRICK HUME. 




LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, STRAND. 
1809. 



Mew-Street Sqrcae, l-umdon 






t/3 



INTRODUCTION. 



I am perfectly aware how little, in general, the 
Public is interested in the motives by which an 
Author has been induced to submit himself to their 
judgement ; and that they look to the merits of a 
work, not to the causes which produced it : They 
will not, I know, easily accept an account of the 
circumstances by which the writer was led to give 
his production to the world, as an apology for the 
want of information or entertainment : I am, how- 
ever, so particularly situated, in venturing again to 
trespass on their attention, that I cannot resist giving 
a short and simple statement of the motives and 
considerations by which I was impelled to this 
undertaking. 

In my former publications, I was actuated by a 
sense of public duty : In this I obey, more imme- 

a 



11 INTRODUCTION. 

diately, the impulse of private friendship ; but I am 
not entirely without a hope, that I may at the same 
time render some small service to my country. 

When Mr. Fox's Historical Work first appeared, 
I felt that degree of interest in it which my long 
experience of his splendid talents, and of the parti- 
cular bent of his powerful mind to political and 
historical subjects, naturally produced. From the 
Prefatory Discourse of his Noble Relation, as well 
as from his own Introductory Chapter, I was led 
to expect, that he would be scrupulously exact in 
weighing the evidence for every fact which he re- 
lated ; that he was, (to use the language of the XMoble 
Editor,) " before he drew any inference whatever, 
" to balance the weight of evidence in his mind ; to 
" examine separately, and distinctly to ascertain, the 
" authority for each particular circumstance of his 
" narrative." I was the more induced to trust this 
promise of fidelity, from his professing to decline the 
relation of any but great public events, without 
deviating into enquiries concerning private manners, 
the pursuits of literature, or the acquisitions of 
science, in the period of which he treated ; subjects on 
which authentic documents are less easily procured, 
and greater latitude of opinion is naturally allowed. 



INTRODUCTION. Ill 

As I proceeded in the Work, I confess I was 
considerably disappointed in this expectation : Ac- 
customed as I have been to official accuracy in state- 
ment, I thought I perceived facts sometimes mistaken 
or mis-stated, and deductions formed on very in- 
sufficient grounds. This was, however, only a sort 
of general indeterminate feeling, with which the 
strain of the Work impressed me ; but, when I 
came to a particular part of his narrative, I felt a 
stronger and more painful conviction of the Author's 
failure in point of accuracy of representation. In his 
history of the ill-fated expedition of the Earl of 
Argyle, he haa adopted a representation of the con- 
duct of Sir Patrick Hume, that places it in a light, 
the injustice of which struck me forcibly, On the 
perusal ; and it was, as it appeared to me, easy to be 
disproved, by authentic materials in my possession. 
This was my sole motive at first for deciding to 
publish on the subject. 

The adoption of such severe and unmerited 
reflections on the ancestor of a man, by whom 
I was during a great part of my life treated with 
the kindness and affection of a parent, would 
not allow me to remain silent. The late Earl of 
Marchmont at his death deposited with me, his sole 

a 2 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

executor, as a sacred trust, all the MSS. of his family, 
with an injunction to make use of them, if I should 
ever find it necessary {a) : This necessity seems to me 
now to exist, and powerfully to call on me for a 
vindication of the character of his ancestor. I allude 
to the censure, contained in the third chapter of 
Mr. Fox's Work (b)> on Sir Patrick Hume, afterwards 
the first Earl of Marchmont, and grandfather of my 
friend the late Earl ; affecting equally the honour, 
the courage, and the talents of that eminent man. 
Those virtues and talents his Sovereign had acknow- 
ledged and rewarded ; but honours are of little value, 

if not sanctioned hy the suffrage of the country, and 

the approbation of good men. Such suffrage, and 
such approbation, had hitherto attended the honours 

(a) This last Earl was keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, and was 
distinguished for learning, for brilliancy of genius, and for parliamentary 
experience : He was elected for the town of Berwick, in 1 754 ; the same 
year in which the late Lord Chatham, and the first Lord Lyttleton entered 
on their parliamentary lives; and with them distinguished himself remarkably 
in the House of Commons soon after he took his seat there. He died in 
January 1794, in his 86th year. The estimation in which he was held by 
his cotemporaries, early in his life, may be judged of by his close and 
intimate friendship with Lord Cobham and Sir William Wyndham, (the 
former of whom gave his bust a place in the Temple of Worthies at 
Stow,) and by the mention of him in Mr. Pope's well-known inscription 
in his grotto at Twickenham. 

(6) Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 193, 197, 198, 212. 



INTRODUCTION. V 

of Sir Patrick ; but these the censure which Mr. Fox 
has adopted was calculated to tarnish, or to destroy, 
if suffered to pass uncontradicted ; and having the 
materials for this contradiction in my hands, I felt 
it a duty I could not resist to lay them before the 
world. 

Sir Patrick Hume, from an anticipation, as it would 
appear, of the obloquy which is apt to be fastened on 
men concerned in unfortunate enterprizes, drew up, 
during his residence in Holland, before he was joined 
there by his family, a Narrative of the Rise, Progress, 
and Issue of the Expedition of the Earl of Argyle, 
in as far as he was himself concerned, which is the 
paper I am anxious to publish ; the authority of 
the document must rest in a great measure on the 
character of its author, which hitherto has afforded 
no mean argument for the veracity of the relation ; 
but it appears to me to possess, besides, intrinsic 
qualities which entitle it to our belief ; a simplicity, a 
moderation, and an agreement with the acknowledged 
virtues, as well as weaknesses of the principal persons 
whose actions it relates, with other internal evidence 
of truth, which the reader cannot fail to observe. 
Mr. Fox himself confesses, in general, the impetuosity 
and opinionativeness of Argyle, although they were 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

redeemed by a gallantry of spirit, a candor of mind, 
and a kindness of heart which Sir Patrick's Narrative 
always ascribes to him, when he would take time to 
consider coolly the propositions of his companions in 
arms, or the claims of his friends and fellow sufferers. 
But in adopting the opinion he states, or rather in ap- 
plying the censure of the Earl of Argyle, respecting Sir 
Patrick Hume, he omits to make allowance for the 
precipitancy in the former, which the prudence of the 
latter must have compelled him frequently to resist ; 
and it seems to have been very unfortunate for their 
common safety that Sir Patrick had not the power 
of more effectually counteracting that tendency to 
precipitation in the Leader. 

Sir Patrick's sagacity and prudence, no less than 
the sincerity of his attachment to the cause of freedom 
and of the constitution, have hardly ever been denied ; 
although Mr. Fox seems to sanction the reflection 
thrown upon his conduct by the Earl, whom he 
decorates as the hero of that part of his narrative ; 
yet in the general estimation of his character, he does 
not venture to contradict the common opinion of the 
time, and gives Sir John Cochran credit for the 
sincerity of his motives, and the honesty of his in- 
tentions, from the circumstance " of his having always 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

" acted in conjunction with Sir Patrick Hume, who 
* is proved by the subsequent events, and indeed by 
" the whole tenor of his life and conduct, to have 
" been uniformly sincere and zealous in the cause of 
" his country (c)" 

With such testimony in favour of the writer, and 
from the intrinsic air of authority which it bears, I 
submit with some confidence, the narrative of Sir 
Patrick to the world. It will be found complete, 
and cannot but throw considerable light on the ex- 
pedition to which Mr. Fox has attached so much 
importance, and to which he has devoted so large a 
portion of his book. 

The particular interest which I feel in the story 
and character of this illustrious ancestor of my early 
friend, led me first to examine attentively the narra- 
tive of Mr. Fox, the authorities by which it is sup- 
ported, and the reflections with which he accompanied 
it ; and on the attentive perusal which, from this 
motive, I was induced to bestow on it, I perceived, 
or thought I perceived, an uniform leading cause of 
partiality, both in the narrative and in the reflections ; a 
certain political bias seemed to me to pervade the whole, 
a bias so strong and so marked, that it might seem 

(V) Mr. Fox's History, p. 213. 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

doubtful whether the History was not written to 
support the system, rather than the system adopted 
from the consideration of the History. There is, as 
has been often observed, a certain distance of time 
necessary to enable an historian to write of public 
events with impartiality; perhaps a certain distance 
of opinion, if I may be allowed the expression, is also 
necessary ; a certain remoteness in the nature of the 
events, and in the state of the parties, from those in 
which the author has been concerned, or with which 
he has been connected. 

It is on this ground I was led to suspect the ac- 
curacy of Mr. Fox's statements, and the justness of 
his reflections. With perfect rectitude and imparti- 
ality of intention, a man in a particular political 
situation can hardly form impartial opinions ; main- 
taining with his party, certain general political po- 
sitions, and hearing, in the society of that party, a 
set of particular sentiments, which the interest of 
some, the enthusiasm of others, and in general the 
very war of opposition which they have maintained 
in common, have tended to heighten and confirm: 
In such circumstances it were scarce to praise a 
man's heart or disposition to suppose him perfectly 
unbiassed: his very virtues, friendship, confidence, 



INTRODUCTION. IX 



and social affections, are likely to betray him. Those 
virtues form the panegyric of Mr. Fox with his 
friends ; they have been acknowledged by the most 
strenuous of his opponents. In the midst of those 
friends, a man with less pliancy of disposition, and 
less warmth of affection than Mr. Fox, is inclined to 
imbibe opinions unfavourable to the strict impar- 
tiality of historical discussion : He breathes an atmo- 
sphere of party, with which the constitution and 
temperament of his own mind can hardly fail to be 
affected. Mr. Fox's habits and political contests, 
were also unfavourable to historical impartiality : A 
man accustomed to debate is too often apt to argue 
more for victory than for conviction ; and to look 
more to the advantage or fame of defeating his ad- 
versary, than to the justice of the cause for which 
he fights : He has been accustomed to contend and 
to dispute, rather than to discuss and to deliberate, 
and will much more ■ easily form or refute arguments, 
than set up or weigh opinions. 

The turn which Mr. Fox has given to the opinion 
of Lord Halifax, on a question at that time occur- 
ring, with regard to the managemement of the Ame- 
rican colonies, is a curious instance of the bent of 
his mind to apply every historical incident to those 

b 



INTRODUCTION. 



political principles which he had maintained in parlia- 
ment. So much is he blinded by this propensity that, 
in quoting a Letter from Barillon, giving an account 
of the discourse of Lord Halifax, he mis-translates 
(certainly without intention) the passage in that Let- 
ter applicable to the doctrine which Lord Halifax 
maintains. The Tory ministers, he says, " main- 
" tained that His Majesty could and ought to govern 
" countries so distant, in the manner that should 
" appear to him most suitable for preserving or aug- 
" menting the strength and riches of the mother 
" country :" Whereas it will be found, on referring 
to the Letters, page 8 of the Appendix, to Mr. Fox's 
work, that the words " le pays" mean the colony, 
and not the mother country. The words are, " ils 
" soutinrent: que Sa Majeste Britannique pouvoit, et 
" devoit,gouverner des pays si eloignes de PAngleterre 
" en la maniere qui lui paroitroit la plus convenable 
" pour maintenir le pays en l'etat auquel il est ; et 
" pour en augmenter encore les forces et la richesse." 
In examining, I hope with candour and impar- 
tiality, the political tenets of Mr. Fox, I can scarcely 
be accused of an ungracious attempt to lessen the 
reputation of his work. The very basis of that work 
is free discussion ; its object is to examine severely 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

and minutely the authorities on which former his- 
torians have asserted facts or from which they have 
deduced opinions; and he must be a very partial 
reader who can complain of a free examination of a 
work in which such a man as Hume is characterized 
in the following words : " He was an excellent man, 
" and of great power of mind ; but his partiality to 
" kings and princes is intolerable : Nay, it is, in my 
" opinion, quite ridiculous, and is more like the 
" foolish admiration which women and children 
" sometimes have for kings, than the opinion, right 
" or wrong, of a philosopher (d)." 

That Mr. Hume had prejudices I do not mean to 
dispute ; but they were the prejudices of system, not 
of party. Viewing, with the eye of a philosopher, 
the origin and progress of the British Constitution, 
he probably thought he discovered in it more of the 
monarchical, and less of the democratical prepon- 
derance than common opinion had sometimes ascribed 
to it. That this general theory occasionally influenced 
his opinions, and even coloured his narrative, I admit ; 
but in his details of this very portion of the British 
history, which Mr. Fox has chosen as an era in the 
settlement of its constitution, his account of the 

(d) Mr. Fox's History, Preface to the Reader, p. xxi. 
b2 



Xll . INTRODUCTION. 

conduct of King James, and his reflections upon it 
throughout his reign, appear to me as severely re- 
prehensive as could well be expected ; although in 
giving his character, on his abdication, he shewed 
him more favour than he probably would have done 
if he had known all that has since transpired. 

The natural temperament of Mr. Hume, whom in 
the early part of my life I saw very frequently, was 
that of mildness rather than of feeling ; and his habits 
of metaphysical discussion naturally tended to blunt 
the edge of sensibility. His reflections are therefore 
less warm, whether in praise or blame, than those of 
more rhetorical historians ; but his narrative has 
always appeared to me to be correct and impartial. 

Mr. Fox seems to have started with a prejudice 
against some other historians, from a general idea of 
their Toryism, but omits to adduce reasons for fuch 
indiscriminate censure on them. Some of their 
works he appears not to have read, characterizing 
authors without distinction, under one general de- 
scription, whose principles of historical discussion 
seem to be entirely opposite. Hume and Macpherson 
(the last probably from his name) have been supposed 
to be Tories ; Dalrymple is of a family remarkable 
for Whig principles, though the conviction of dis- 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

covery, as he professed, or the pride of it, led him 
to dispute the honour and public virtue of Sidney 
and Lord Russell ; and Somerville was professedly a 
zealous Whig historian, with all the enthusiasm which 
early political and religious education could inspire 
in a presbyterian clergyman. 

Mr. Fox was remarkable for a most excellent natu- 
ral memory ; but it seems evident that, if he ever 
read Somerville's History, he must have strangely 
forgotten what he met with in it, to have classed him 
with Hume and other prerogative writers. 

It is however due to the character of Mr. Fox to 
say, that I am perfectly persuaded he did not in any 
one instance intentionally state a false fact ; but I 
cannot at the same time avoid observing, that it is 
the duty of every historian to examine, with the 
utmost care and industry, the accuracy of what he 
asserts ; especially when he reasons thereupon inju- 
riously to the memories of distinguished men. Mr. Fox 
has told us that he did so ; he says, " he was too 
" scrupulous in that respect ;" and his noble relation, 
who edited the work, in the execution of which he 
has given a further proof of the distinguished talents 
he has shewn in his public life, confirms this, in 
strong terms, observing that, " during some years 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

" in which Mr. Fox was engaged in an historical 
" work, he took indefatigable pains to investigate 
" the authority for every assertion in the writers he 
" consulted, and to correct the slightest variation in 
" their accounts, although apparently of little im- 
" portance." 

How far the scruples in Mr. Fox's mind, as referred 
to by himself, and the indefatigable pains his editor 
states him to have taken to investigate the authority 
for any assertion in the writers he consulted, were 
effectual for the attainment of certainty as to his facts ; 
it is incumbent on me, in the performance of a sacred 
duty, as far as respects the character of Sir Patrick 
Hume, to examine ; and the observations I shall make 
on other parts of the work will necessarily lead to a 
like enquiry respecting those; in both cases I wish, 
where there shall be any difference between us, the 
merits to be tried by reference to authorities. It is 
on this I place my reliance for any attention from the 
Public ; perfectly conscious how unequal I am to 
contend with Mr. Fox in argument : His reasoning is 
always powerful, and would frequently be convincing, 
if the facts on which it is built were correct ; — it is 
to prevent mistakes he has fallen into, and then 
reasoned upon, from misleading the judgement of the 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

Public that I have been induced to notice any other 
part of his Work, than that in which I take a deep 
and an immediate interest. 

Mr. Fox observes, that " in reading the history of 
" every country, there are certain periods at which 
" the mind naturally pauses to meditate upon, and 
" consider them, with reference not only to their 
u immediate effects, but to their more remote con- 
" sequences." In that remark I perfectly agree with 
him ; although the more I have read and considered 
our history the more strongly I have been confirmed in 
the opinion I expressed in a report I made several 
years ago on the state of the Records in my custody, 
" That our constitution is too well settled now to 
" render an investigation of any of the earliest au- 
" thorities of real importance with regard to its 
" limits or its form. But it may not be unworthy 
" the attention of the Public, as an object of laudable 
" curiosity at least, to trace the progress of our 
" ancestors towards the state which is now our 
" comfort and our boast. It is the great praise of 
" the British constitution that it was formed, or 
" rather formed itself, progressively at different 
" periods by the slow and scarce perceptible gra- 
" dations to which the situation of the country gave 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

rise: It grew to its present form by energies not 
perceived in their immediate operation, but gra- 
dually unfolding themselves. Its ordinances were 
sanctioned by experience, cautious of change, and 
yielding even to improvements only from a con- 
viction of a strong necessity for adopting them. 
No rash or visionary speculation created of a 
sudden new powers in the government, or new 
privileges in the people; they flowed from the 
common and deliberate consent (taught by long 
experience of their want) calling for their adoption 
to produce, or evidently to promote, the freedom, 
the security, and the happiness of the community. 
A constitution thus cautiously adopted, has been 
jealously and firmly preserved ; formed for the 
public good, it has been guarded by the public 
spirit of the nation ; and like that invisible power, 
which is known by the exercise of its beneficence, 
it has been revered, obeyed, and loved (<?)." 
There certainly have been fewer alterations in the 
nature of our government, from the time of our 
Saxon ancestors, when the formation of the kingdom 
out of the Heptarchy took place in the ninth century, 

(<?) Mr. Rose's Report on the Public Records, p. 47. 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

than in any other nation in Europe, during the same 
period, notwithstanding the Danish invasions and 
the Norman conquest ; not one that could pro- 
perly be called a revolution. It is to the grand- 
son of the monarch in whose reign the various 
Saxon kingdoms were united into one government, 
we are indebted for establishing, in the end of that 
century, the basis of the constitution we have now 
the happiness to enjoy, by which our liberty is 
secured to us ; and for establishing those admirable 
principles of law which so effectually protect our 
property (/). But that monarch, not satisfying him- 
self with ensuring to his people those inestimable 
blessings, extended his views to the improvement of 
their commerce; and so opened the way not only 
to the augmentation of the wealth of his subjects, 
but also laid the foundation for that naval power, 
which, with a few exceptions, has for ages given us 
the sovereignty of the seas. 

(y) Lord Coke says, the common law of England is the absolute per- 
fection of reason, Second Institute, p. 179; and Plowden, in his learned 
Commentaries, says, " it is no other than pure and tried reason." Case of 
Mines, fo. 316. Lord Ellesmere describes it as grounded on the law of 
God, and extending itself to the original law of nature, and the universal 
law of nations. Discourse on the Post Nati. fo. 32 and ^^. 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

From the time of Alfred, at least, England has 
been governed by a limited monarchy ; the king 
always assisted by a great council, or general assembly 
of considerable men, under whatever name described, 
either as Wittengamote, Commune Concilium, or 
Parliament, without whose concurrence no new law 
could be made, nor any old one altered (h). 

When Parliament was modelled precisely into its 
present form (i), has been contested with more ve- 
hemence, I believe, than any matter in modern 
history ; it called forth the talents and the industry 
of almost all the eminent writers in this country 
towards the close of the seventeenth century, who 
took different sides of the question, and so per- 
plexed the case by their learning, as to leave the 
point in considerable doubt ; but the light that has 
been lately thrown upon the subject, by the pro- 
duction and publication of the earliest parliamentary 
proceedings, and other very ancient records (/>), en- 

(h) There is very full evidence of this, with reference to authorities, in 
Whitelock's Notes on the Writ of Summons, vol. ii. p. 1 1 1. to i63. 

(;') Even so late as the reign of Henry VI. there seems, in judicature, to 
have been an odd mixture of the parliament and the King's council, 
vide Rotul. Parliamentorum, vol.iv. p. 334. a. and 506. b. 

(k) For these and the Doomsday Book, the Public are principally, in 
the first instance, indebted to the late Earl of Marchmont, and for the 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

ables me to say, with some confidence, that the most 
generally received opinion, that the first election of 
members by the commonalty was in the end of the 
reign of Henry the Third, is correct ; and it is quite 
clear now, that those who were so elected never 
sat to deliberate with the Peers (/), although a dif- 
ferent opinion was long prevalent, and supported 
by very high authorities : It is therefore remarkable 
that in Scotland the whole Legislature should have 
sat together quite to the Union in 1707 ; the com- 
missioner, who represented the King, sitting in a chair 
of state, from which he frequently descended to mix in 
debates. 

I have said there have been no revolutions in our 
government ; the changes from the Wittengamote 
to the Commune Concilium, and from the latter 
to a Parliament, were so insensible as not now 
to be traced accurately ; and not considering the 

other Records to Mr. Abbott, the present Speaker of the House of Com- 
mons ; the publications in both cases taken up with great zeal in the two 
Houses, and every possible furtherance given to the undertakings by His 

Majesty. 

</) It is foreign from the purpose of this Work, to enter into details of 
such matters : Those who wish to satisfy their curiosity about them, will 
find much information respecting them, collected in my Report on the 
Records already mentioned, from folio 43 to 45. 

C 2 



XX INTRODUCTION* 

temporary fluctuations in it, arising sometimes from 
attempts of arbitrary sovereigns struggling for Power, 
and at other times from anarchy, in that light ; 
because, as an eminent writer of the present age 
has truly said, " the vigour of our free constitution 
" has always delivered the nation from its emba- 
" rassments ; and as soon as the convulsions con- 
" sequent on the struggle have been over, the 
11 balance of our rights and liberties has settled 
il to its proper level." 

What is usually called the Revolution of 1688, 
was nothing more than a declaration of what our 
rights were antecedently to that event, and some 
improvement in our laws, to guard more effectually 
in future against such encroachments as had been 
made on those rights : The Great Charter of King 
John, confirmed in Parliament in a subsequent 
reign (w), was of a similar nature : The Petition of 
Right in 1628, the discussion of which occupied 
much of the attention of both Houses in that ses- 
sion, and to which the king reluctantly gave his 
assent in full parliament (;/), and soon afterwards de- 

(/>/) Rotuli Parliamentorum, vol. i. p. 240. a. and Stat. 25 Edw. I. 
Cap. 1. to 7. the only laws of the year. 

(n) Journals of the House of Commons, vol. i. from p. S90. to 919. b. 
Rushworth, vol. i. p. $$j. 546. 548. 643. The entries, which will shew 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

parted from in many instances, was likewise a mere 
declaration of existing rights, which the two Houses 
thought had been violated. On the last occasion of 
the sort, when the Act of Settlement was passed 
in the beginning of the last century, nothing more 
was done than asserting what had been long esta- 
blished, and adding a few provisions for still further 
securing our religion, liberties, and laws (o). 

With respect to our laws, not only the principles 
established, according to some as anciently as the 
Britons, certainly as early as the Saxons, • remain 
unshaken, but the very forms have undergone few 
alterations, considering the length of time (fi), ex- 
cept in some instances, to which the improvements 
in civilization naturally opened the way, such as 

on what grounds the two Houses proceeded, are the most full in the Lords 
Journals, vol. iii. from p. 786. to 851. At the first conference Sir Edward 
Coke affirmed that this mode of proceeding by petition was the ancient 
way, until the unhappy divisions beween the houses of York and Lancas- 
ter, p. 789. and when he delivered it at the bar of the House of Lords, he 
said, " it contains the true liberties of the subjects of England, and a true- 
" exposition of the Great Charter," p. 825. 

(0) 1 2th and 13th Will. III. ch. 2. 

(p) Whitelock proves the existence of the Court Leet before the 
conquest, in his notes on the writ of summons, vol. ii. p. 417. And 
manors occur in every page of Doomsday. 



XX11 INTRODUCTION. 

abolishing the state of villainage (q), trials by or- 
deal (r), battle (s), &c. and in some changes in the 
right of succession to property. Even the time 
when the courts of judicature for civil and criminal 

(q) There appears to be no means of fixing the precise time when this 
ended. In the year 15 14, 5th of Henry VIII. there is a manumission 
from that King, of two persons in the following terms, " Whereas 
" originally God created all men free, but afterwards the laws and cus- 
" toms of nations subjected some under the yoke of servitude. We 
" think it pious and meritorious with God to make certain persons abso- 
" lutely free from servitude, who are at present under villenage to us : 
" Wherefore we do accordingly manumit and free from the yoke of 
*' servitude Henry Knight, a taylor, and John Erie, a husbandman, our 
" natives (nativi) as being born in our manor of Stoke Clymmyslande, in 
" our county of Cornwall, together with all their issue born, or hereafter 
" to be acquired by them, so as that the said two persons, with their issue, 
" shall henceforth be deemed by us, and our heirs, free, and of free con- 
*' dition." Rymer's Fcedera, vol. xiii. p. 470. And so late as in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth there is a warrant from the Queen directing 
manumissions to be granted under the Great Seal, for all her subjects born 
bonde in blode, and regardant to divers manors, in the counties of Corn- 
wall, Devon, Somerset, and Gloucester, on reasonable fines for their 
manumissions, Rymer, vol. xv. p. 731. but Tenures by Knight's service, by 
homage, escuage, &c. were taken away by an express statute, 12th Ch. II. 
chap. 24. which will be noticed hereafter. 

(r) Put an end to in the reign of Hen. III. Pat. Roll. 3 Hen. IN. part 1. 
mem. 5. 

(j) This has been insensibly discontinued, there is no law for prohibiting 
it ; the latest instance I find of it is in the 7th of Charles I. stated in my 
Report on the Records, p. 38 ; and for all the forms see Dugdale's 
Origines Juridiciales, 2d edition, p. 6$. to 87. 



INTRODUCTION. XX1I1 

matters were established as at present constituted is 
not known with certainty, for the earliest records of 
the King's Bench and Common Pleas are so mixed 
with the latest of the Curia Regis, that the separation 
of the two former from the latter cannot be precisely 
ascertained. No notice is taken of the customs of 
Normandy, added to our common law by William 
the Conqueror, because they were nearly abolished 
so early as in the reign of his fon Henry the First (t). 
Fortunate, however, as we have been in the uni- 
formity of our constitution, and of our laws, I have 
long lamented the want of a work that would illus- 
trate the most interesting periods in our history, 
and direct the attention of the reader to them, in 
order to assist those who wish to trace effects to 
their causes, as alluded to by Mr. Fox, and to fix 
particular points and circumstances attending them 
in their memory. That desideratum Mr. Fox, how- 
ever, had it not even in contemplation to supply ; 
his intention, if he had carried it fully into effect, 
having been only to give an account of the re- 
establishment of our liberties in 1688, (undoubtedly 
the most interesting event in our history), and of 

(/) Lord Coke's Reports, lib. 3. in procemio j where will be found a 
Differtation on the Antiquity of our Law. 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

what led to it ; and after the employment of some 
years of his valuable time, he has left us no more 
than the history of a part of the first year of the 
reign of James the Second, and an introductory chapter 
of some events in the reign of Charles the Second, 
mixed with occasional observations on occurrences in 
the reign of Charles the First. The period was 
most eventful, but the industry of former writers 
had produced every thing that was essential in it ; 
and it will be seen in the following sheets, that the 
transcendant talents of the one now under consider- 
ation, assisted by the industry of himself and his 
friends, did not enable him to bring into view one 
new historical fact of any importance, or to throw 
an additional gleam of light on any constitu- 
tional point whatever ; but that on the contrary 
he has stated with confidence some facts which are 
at least extremely doubtful, on which some of his 
reasoning is founded. 

Vertot's Account of the Revolutions of Rome 
has been found very useful by persons who have 
read the Roman History ; but the best model that 
I have met with for such a work, as appears to me 
to be much wanted, is a short History of Poland, 
which I translated nearly forty years ago, but did 



INTRODUCTION. XXV 

not publish ; the manuscript of which His Majesty 
at the time did me the honour to accept, and it 
probably is still in His Majesty's library. 

I then thought of attempting a history on the 
same plan for this country ; but I gave up the in- 
tention, more from a sense of my incompetency, than 
from the close employment which occupied nearly my 
whole time. I heartily wish some one more equal 
in all respects to the task may embark in it, and 
execute it usefully. 

In France, whatever defects there are in their 
history, those are supplied by a regular series of 
memoirs from Philip de Comines down to the pre- 
sent age ; but of such writings hardly any exist in 
this country ; we are therefore perpetually at a loss in 
endeavouring to trace what occasioned the most 
important occurrences in its history. As this applies 
most forcibly to what passed in 1688, we must regret 
that Mr. Fox did not complete even what he intended ; 
because we cannot consider any thing that led to the 
measures then adopted with too much attention ; nor 
can any inhabitant of this country feel too high a 
gratification at the complete success of those measures ; 
the strong and positive necessity for which there 
cannot be much clearer proof of than has been pro- 

d 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

duced by Sir John Dalrymple, who tells the de- 
scendants of great families in this country, " that 
" there are few of them who will not find, in his 
" fifth and sixth books, that their ancestors, of 
" whatever party they were,, had a hand in them 
" one way or other (z/)." The satisfaction he ex- 
presses at this is natural, after having in his preceding 
books waded through evidence much too clear of 
the depravity and corruption prevailing to a great 
extent almost immediately before the Revolution 
took place* What a picture is exhibited in Barillon's 
correspondence of several of the most considerable 
men in the kingdom ! Mr. Fox says, " Boling- 
" broke in particular had confounded the distinct and 
" even opposite views of the two leading parties, 
" who, though they concurred in the measure, re- 
" tained even in their union all their respective 
" tenets and fundamental distinctions." Of Lord 
Bolingbroke's character, I am not likely to enter on 
any defence ; but in this instance his authority is 
respectable ; for although he was not of an age at 
the Revolution to mix in public measures, he lived in 
habits of the closest intimacy, and most entire confi- 

(«) Dalrymple's Appendix, 2. p. 180. 



INTRODUCTION. XXV11 

dence, during some years, with those who were most 
active in placing King William on the throne ; the 
subsequent separation from whom, in the latter part 
of the reign of Queen Anne, did not induce him 
to change the favourable opinion he had entertained 
of those Statesmen, when he was acting with them ; 
for to the very close of his life he continued to say 
he was persuaded there hardly ever lived a man of 
stricter integrity, of more consummate wisdom, or of 
sounder judgement than Lord Sommers ; to whom he 
gave the principal merit of the wise provisions in 
1688: On the Duke of Marlborough, as well as on 
some others, he bestowed great praise ; these opinions 
were expressed repeatedly in conversations with the 
late Lord Marchmont, while they lived together at 
Battersea and in France. By him they were related 
to me, and I have never doubted the truth of them, 
because during the period of Lord Bolingbroke's 
closest retirement, and on communications of a very 
private nature, he could have no possible induce- 
ment for concealing his real sentiments on such sub- 
jects. On another period highly interesting to us, I 
mean previous to the accession of the Brunswick 
Family to the throne of these kingdoms, we are, if 

d 2 



XXV1I1 INTRODUCTION. 

possible, still less enlightened, especially towards the 
close of the life of the Queen ; but from what can be 
collected, there is too much reason to believe that the 
men who were in power at the time were looking 
with much more anxiety to the means of continuing 
themselves in their situations, or improving them, 
than to any other object ; and that those who were 
out of power were principally interested in consider- 
ing how they should attain it : For the first, I have, 
in addition to all that has been published on the sub- 
ject, again the authority of Lord Bolingbroke, which 
also in this instance I think unquestionable for the 
reason before assigned, and because the anecdote is 
not to his advantage. He told Lord Marchmont (x) 
that a very short time before Her Majesty died, him- 
self and some other principal members of the govern- 
ment were extremely anxious that some decision 

(x) I am aware that such private conversations are not the most unex. 
ceptionable evidence of historical facts ; but I think I may rest on the 
acknowledged uprightness of Lord Marchmont's character for the correct- 
ness of his statement ; for that of Lord Bolingbroke I can only appeal to 
the particular situation in which he stood at the time ; and the corrobo- 
rating circumstances of other undisputed historical facts. I have the less 
scruple in alluding to these circumstances, as they have no relation to any 
points of controversy with Mr. Fox. 



INTRODUCTION. XXIX 

should be taken as to the line to be pursued on the 
expected demise of the crown, when after much con- 
sideration, it was agreed among them that the Duke 
of Shrewsbury should press Lord Oxford to a deter- 
mination on that head ; who accordingly, in a cabinet 
meeting, urged his lordship, even to tears, that he 
would resolve which court they should go to, offer- 
ing for himself, and those at whose instance he made 
the entreaty, to follow him to either (jy). It is quite 
clear that Lord Bolingbroke had at that time no fixed 
inclination towards the court of St. Germains, because 
not long before, when the Abbe Gualtier was here 
on a negotiation then depending, on quitting Lord 
Bolingbroke's room, after they had been transacting 
business, he left a letter on the table, sealed with the 
arms of England: On his Lordship observing this, 
the Abbe was immediately called back, and the letter 
put into his hand, with an assurance, that if he 

(y) For Bolingbroke's intrigues, see Macpherson's Original Papers, 
vol.ii. p. 366. 373. his removal, p. 651. Harley's intrigues, ibidem, 
p. 322. 365. 366. 379. 387. 400. 405. 407. 413. 417 to 428. 455. 456. 

463.472- 473-475- 490- 495- 49 6 - 5° 2 - 5°5- 5 11 - 5 l6 - 5 l8 - 5 2 9- 
and especially 503 and 516. Account of the quarrel between Oxford and 
Bolingbroke, 439. Designs of the ministers, particularly Lord Oxford, 
to bring in the Pretender, ibidem, 515 and 516. The conduct of the 
ministers in the Queen's last illness, ibidem, 530 to 534. 



XXX INTRODUCTION. 

should ever repeat the attempt, he would be sent out 
of the kingdom at an hour's notice (%). 

What the wishes of many of the Tories were, was 
little attempted to be concealed ; and that some of the 
Whigs were not acting on a fixed principle of attach- 
ment to the Protestant succession (a) is now clear 
from their correspondence with the Court of St. Ger- 
main's, in the reigns of King William and Queen Anne, 
especially the latter : In truth, the conduct of many 
of the leaders of both parties affords a disgusting 

(z) This likewise was stated in conversation by Lord Bolingbroke to Lord 
Marchmont. See also Macpherson's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 234. 550. 

(a) I am unwilling to enter any further into this part of the subject, but 
those who wish to inform themselves respecting the intrigues of the Whigs 
with James after the revolution, and with his son, will find abundant and 
conclusive proofs of the fact, as well from papers which were in the pos- 
session of King William, as from those found in the repositories in Paris, 
published by Macpherson, vol. i. p. 243. 244. 245. These are from the Life 
of James, written by himself ; — 457. 479. 480. 481. 513.588. from original 
papers ; — 606. 627. Stewart Papers ; — 637 Hanover Papers ; — 674. 683. 
695. 699. Stewart Papers; — vol. ii. p. 101. Stewart Papers. The anecdote 
from the Stewart Papers* of Lord Wharton being in possession of a letter 
from LordGodolphin to the Pretender, was stated by Lord Bolingbroke to 
Lord Marchmont more than thirty years before Macpherson went to Paris ; 
in confirmation of the truth of which Lord Bolingbroke mentioned a parti- 
cular instance of Lord Godolphin and the Duke of Marlborough voting 
with Lord Wharton in consequence of his having the letter, on which 
occasion the latter triumphed with a very coarse joke. For further intrigues 
of the Whigs, see the same volume, p. 133. 158. 160. 161. 163. 21& 
315. 458. Stewart Papers. 



INTRODUCTION. XXXI 

picture of what men may be induced to do by a love 
of power and of situation (b). 

Lord Bolingbroke has given a full account of the 
motives for his conduct after the death of the Queen, 
in his letter to Sir Wm. Wyndham ; to Lord March- 
mont he accounted for his flight by assurances that 
he had a clear conviction that Lord Oxford had made 
his peace with the Whigs, and that he, Lord Boling- 
broke, was to be the sacrifice to that peace; whether 
the latter assertion was true cannot now be ascer- 
tained, but it is as nearly certain as any thing can be, 
from circumstantial evidence, that the former is accu- 
rate ; as it is evident the proceeding against the Earl 
on the accession of George I. was never meant to 
affect his life or fortune, though he endured an im- 
prisonment of considerable length. Whatever there 
was justly censurable in the conduct of Bolingbroke, 
and unfortunately there was a great deal too much, 
the contemptuous treatment he met with in the 
Pretender's court was no slight punishment for it (c). 

(b) See Macpherson's Original Papers, vol. ii. p. 438. 

(c) Having been led by Mr. Fox's observation to mention this nobleman, 
I cannot resist expressing my deep regret that some essays written by him 
in the latter end of his life are not to be found among his works ; because 
they would have illustrated many interesting occurrences in his own time, 
and Vould have shewn his mind in a different state from that to which it has 



XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 

Such is the general view which I have formed of 
the nature and tendency of Mr. Fox's publication, 

been sometimes supposed to be subject. How it happened that they 
were not published by Mr. Mallet it is not necessary to state here ; 
they were certainly written ; for in a letter to Lord Marchmont from 
Argeville, August 8th, 1740,* on the occasion of the death of Sir 
"William Wyndham, Lord Bolingbroke says, after mentioning some Essays 
he was writing, " This puts me in mind of some miscellaneous writings 
" that I shall leave behind me, if I live a little longer, and enjoy a little 
" health ; the principal parts of them will be historical ; and these I 
" intended to address to Wyndham ; permit me to address the whole to 
ie you. I shall finish them up with more spirit, and with greater pleasure, 
" when I think that if they carry to posterity any memorial of my weakness 
" as an actor, or a writer, they will carry thither a character of me that I 
" prefer to both, the character of Wyndham's and Marchmont's friend." 
His Lordship certainly fulfilled his intentions, which was proved not only 
by what he said to Lord Marchmont, but in a subsequent letter of October 
1742,* he alludes to closer retirement in France, and says to the Earl, " it 
" is there I propose to discharge my promise to your Lordship, and to 
cc put together many memorials, anecdotes, and other miscellaneous pieces 
" which I have in my power, or the materials of which are so.; they shall 
" be addressed to your Lordship most certainly ; the subject of a great part 
" will probably carry the whole down to posterity ; and there is nothing 
" can flatter me more agreeably than to have future generations know 
" that I lived and died your Lordship's friend." In which letter Lord B. 
says he has sent one of these productions to Pope, " that may not only 
" stay, but stop his longing for the rest." 

I have a great number of letters from the same Peer, Lord Stair, the 

Dutchess of Marlborough, Sir William Wyndham, Lord Chefterfield, Mr. 

Pope, and others, to Lord Marchmont, in which there is much interesting 

matter respecting transactions from Queen Anne's time to the year 1750 ; 

* la my possession. 



INTRODUCTION. XXX1U 

and of what it would have been if his eminent talents 
had been employed to the best advantage of the 
Public. In the following sections I shall proceed to 
observe on such parts of the work as appear to me 
to be particularly deserving of attention, and then add 
the memoir of Sir Patrick Hume, and a few other 
papers in the shape of an Appendix. 

The original of the notes of Lord Dartmouth on 
Burnet's History, referred to in the following Work, 
are in manuscript in the margin of the folio edition 
of the Bishop's History of his own Time, in the pos- 
session of the present Earl ; they were written by his 
grandfather, the second Earl, who was Secretary of 
State in the Reign of Queen Anne; and his Lord- 
ship very obligingly allowed me to take copies of 
such of them as I wished. 

In examining this work of Mr. Fox, I am particu- 
larly jealous of my own judgement; I am sufficiently 
aware of the impression with which the Public 

but although under no injunction to the contraryj have at prefent no thought 
of publishing them ; with the exception of one from Lord Stair, which, as it 
puts the conduct of the Duke of Marlborough, when the determination was 
taken to remove him from the command of the army in Flanders, in a 
different point of view from that in which it has been generally seen, 
should, I think in justice to his memory, not be withheld. This letter will 
therefore be found in the Appendix. 

e 



XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 



may peruse the commentaries of a man who had been 
very long honoured with the confidence, and enjoyed 
the affectionate friendship, of his principal political op- 
poser : I am certain that from this feeling I have been 
more scrupulous both of my authorities and of my 
own opinions, than I might have been in commenting 
upon the work of any other author. But while the 
friendship and partiality which no man was better 
qualified to gain, or to conciliate, than Mr. Fox, lives, 
and justly lives, after him, the opposition of every 
liberal man has died with its object. My opposition, 
if I may presume to speak of any thing so utterly un- 
important, was altogether on public grounds. There 
was a time when I hoped that my country might 
have profited by the junction of two such men as one 
and the same period has seldom witnessed. But in 
reading Mr. Fox's History, I have conceived a doubt 
how far the co-operation of those two illustrious men 
could have been permanent. The political principles 
of Mr. Pitt would certainly not have accorded with 
those of Mr. Fox, in the manner in which he has 
developed them: Whether in another situation he 
might have acted according to the demonstration of his 
principles in his book, cannot perhaps with certainty be 
asserted ; difference in situation in the individual gives 



INTRODUCTION. XXXV 

rise to different views from different opportunities of 
information, without supposing any inconsistency in 
the change. Every man conversant in matters of 
State will be cautious of imputing a fluctuation of 
mind, or dereliction of principle, to the conduct of a 
Minister, because it is different from that which in 
opposition he supposed the best, or argued as the 
most expedient (J). 

I am aware that for the inaccuracy of state- 
ments an Author can plead no excuse; even for 
failing in argument he will not find it easy to apolo- 
gize successfully from any particular circumstances 
in his private situation. He who gives such state- 
ments, or advances such arguments to the world, 

(d) In an epistle of Cicero to Lentulus, he says, " it appears to be the 
" dictate of sound policy to act in accommodation to particular con- 
" junctures, and not obstinately persevere in one invariable scheme, 
" when the public circumstances, together with the sentiments of the 
«* best and wisest members of the community are evidently changed. 
" In conformity to this notion the most judicious reasoners on the art 
" of Government have universally condemned an inflexible perseverance 
" in one uniform tenor of measures. The skill of the pilot is shewn in 
" weathering the storm, at least, though he should not gain his port j" 
and then adverting to the object of persons (in the administration of 
the commonwealth) of securing an honourable retreat, he adds, " it is 
" by having been inflexible in our intentions for the Public welfare, 
" and not by a positive perseverance in certain favourite modes of ob- 
" taining it." Octavo, London 1753, v0 ** *■ P* *94* 



XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 

is responsible for the publication ; which if he could 
not make it more perfect he had it in his power 
to suppress ; yet, after a fair consideration shall have 
been had of the motives which I have already men- 
tioned for the publication of this paper, and a due 
allowance shall have been made for the necessity of 
these observations appearing, while Mr. Fox's Work 
was fresh in the memory of those who have read it, 
I hope I shall be allowed, in extenuation of their im- 
perfections, to state that it has not been in my power 
to employ many more weeks in their composition (in 
the midst of almost unremitting attention to official 
duties, which take equally from the disembarrassment 
of the mind as from the leisure of time) than Mr. Fox 
did years in the composition of that work on which I 
am about to use the freedom of commenting. 

CufFnells, Jan, 1809. 



SECTION THE FIRST. 



CONTENTS. 



Observations on the Periods into which Mr. Fox divides the English 
History. — Execution of Charles I. ; and the Attainder of the Earl of 
Strafford. — Charges against Monck for omitting to make Conditions 
with Charles II., previous to his Restoration ; respecting the Treatment 
of the Corpse of Blake; and for furnishing Evidence against the 
Marquis of Argyle, considered. — Mr. Fox's Opinion respecting the 
Perfection of the Constitution in the Reign of Charles II. — Abolition 
of the Court of Wards; "Writ de Heretico comburendo; Triennial 
Parliaments. — Licenfing Ad ; and Habeas Corpus Act. 



B 2 



SECTION THE FIRST. 



JVLr. Fox, passing by our early history altogether, 
distributes the periods into which he thinks his work 
should be divided, from the latter end of the fifteenth SfilJSg* 
century, in a manner not quite intelligible. 



Mr. Fox's distri- 
bution c 
of the E 
history. 



His first period is from the accession of Henry the Hb fast period ' 
Seventh to 1588; which he might surely have carried 
on to the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; as there 
was no change of system under her government, hardly 
indeed of men, except such as was occasioned by death : 
and the authors, to whom he attributes justly the 
astonishing progress of literature, wrote in her reign ; 
Hooker died in it; Sir Walter Raleigh (to the disgrace 
of his sovereign) suffered in that of her successor ; and 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
I. 



in that reign also died Bacon, one of the founders of 
English literature, as well as the restorer of philosophy. 
Nor does it appear why our tranquillity having been 
uninterrupted should have influenced his decision in 
this respect ; because our being at peace or war could 
have had no effect on our constitution. As little should 
the observation of Mr. Fox, respecting " the additional 
ie value that came to be set on a seat in the House of 
" Commons," have been a guide to him ; as there is 
evidence, that so late in his period as 1571 a seat was 
purchased for five pounds, for giving which sum a 
member was expelled *. 



Execution of 
Charles I. ; and 
Attainder of the 
Earl of Strafford. 



It will be as difficult to maintain the accuracy of 
Mr. Fox's next proposition, " that the execution of the 
" King was a far less violent measure than that of 
" Lord Strafford ;" which he has not supported by any 
reasoning, or statement, to shew on what he founds 
that opinion. For Bills of Attainder there were, at the 
time, a great number of precedents in the Rolls of 
Parliament, in different reigns ; and there have been 
similar acts since the Revolution. Sir John Fenwick 
was executed under the authority of one; Lord 
Bolingbroke and the Bishop of Rochester were 
banished by a like authority : exclusive of other acts 



* Mr. Long, member for Westburjr. Journal of House of Commons, 
Vol. v. p. 88. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK, 7 

of the kind, in cases of fugitives who had been in section 
actual rebellion. " — - 



The violence and injustice in Lord Strafford's case 
consisted in the Commons having first proceeded 
against the Earl, who was present, by impeachment, 
to a considerable length ; and on failure of evi- 
dence on which he could be convicted, passing 
a Bill of Attainder, without having the pretence of 
a suspicion that he had procured the absence of any 
witnesses : to which Bill, after it had received the 
concurrence of the Lords, the King was, from the 
then State of things, very reluctantly compelled to 
give his assent *. 

The proviso in it, which has been supposed to intend 
that the act shall not be drawn into precedent, enacts 
no more than, that nothing shall be taken in law to be 
Treason, and be so interpreted in the Courts, which was 
not Treason before the passing of the act : plainly 
meaning that it should not influence the conduct of the 

* After the Restoration, the House of Lords, in order to mark their 
disapprobation of this measure, made an order that all the proceedings on. 
the Bill of Attainder in their Journals should be obliterated : under which 
order, the person employed blotted out also those on the impeachment, which 
were strictly constitutional. The House, therefore, after the Revolution, 
directed the latter to be restored : that, however, was not done, from the 
difficulty attending it, till the present reign, by the author of these sheets- 
Lords' Journals, 15th of February, 1768, Vol. xxxii. p. 80. 



i OBSERVATIONS ON 

section Courts of Law in their decisions, nor be intended to 
— limit the power of future Parliaments. 

In making a comparison between the injustice and 
enormity of this case and that of the King, which 
occurred eight years afterwards, Mr. Fox does not 
seem to have attended to the distinction between an 
abuse or breach of a constitutional law, and a total 
departure from, or overturning of, the constitution 
itself. 

The forms as well as the principles of criminal juris- 
prudence were confounded by the violence of party, 
in the proceedings against the Earl : but the violence 
of republicanism set aside all considerations of the 
monarchical part of the constitution, in the proceeding 
against the King. There were precedents, as men- 
tioned above, for the proceeding by Bill of Attainder, 
though not, as unjustly applied to the case of Strafford, 
on the failure of evidence on an impeachment ; but 
there was no example by which the trial and execution 
of the King could be sanctioned. 

Mr. Fox says that Mr. Hume, perhaps uninten- 
tionally, sets up the best justification of the King's 
execution, by saying, that while Charles lived the 
projected republic could never be secure : but can 
such an act of atrocity and violence be justified, on the 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 



SECTION 



ground of its being necessary to support a system of SEC J 
government destructive of the constitution of the 
country, and not less blameable, though less calculated 
to excite personal horror, than the atrocious act by 
which it was supported? Mr. Hume certainly does 
not attempt to set up such a justification. 

But, according to Mr. Fox, our horror at the JJ 1 ^ ^ 
atrocity of the King having been put to death is to 
be abated by the publicity of the act. He considers 
" that among the modes of destroying persons in such 
" a situation, there can be little doubt but that 
" adopted by Cromwell and his adherents is the least 
" dishonourable;" because Charles was not put to 
death in a corner, as in the case of former Kings : and 
he expresses a doubt, " whether this singular pro- 
" ceeding has not, as much as any other circumstance, 
" served to raise the character of the English nation 
" in Europe in general ;" stating also, that " he who 
" has read, and still more he who has heard in cori- 
" versation, discussions upon this subject by foreigners, 
f must have perceived, that even in the minds of those 
" who condemn the act, the impression made by it 
" has been far more that of respect and admiration 
" than that of disgust and horror." He alludes also 
to the splendour and magnanimity of the act; ex- 
plaining himself to mean the publicity and solemnity 
■of it 



10 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
I. 



These sentiments must, in the minds of many, excite 
considerable astonishment. It is hardly to be imagined 
that it could have entered into the human mind to 
conceive, when a positive and fixed determination was 
taken to put the King to death, that it could be either 
an alleviation to his misery, or could inspire foreigners 
with respect, to make a public and degrading exhibi- 
tion of him ; and to afford an opportunity to the 
meanest and most inflamed of the populace to scoff at 
and to insult him : to say nothing of the humiliation 
he must have felt at being charged as a criminal before 
the instruments of Cromwell *, who were appointed 
to try him. 

It cannot at this time be pretended, that the public 
trial furnishes any proof that it was approved of by the 
whole body of the people of England. It is impossible 
to be sure of what their sentiments in every part of the 
kingdom were ; but it is most notorious, that it was 
under the influence which Cromwell had acquired with 
the army that he removed Charles out of the way of his 
ambition. The instances which Mr. Fox adduces of 

* For his judges being so we have Mr. Fox's own authority. His 
words are : " that the execution of the King, as well as others, are not to 
u be considered as acts of the Parliament, but of Cromwell ; and great 
" and respectable as are the names of some who sat in the high Court, 
** they must be regarded, in this instance, rather as the ministers of that 
« usurper than as acting from themselves." Mr. Fox's Historical 
Work, p. 13. 



MR. FQx's HISTORICAL WORK. 11 

the deposals and deaths of Edward the Second, section 
Richard the Second, Henry the Sixth, and Edward 
the Fifth, are of a kind too savage to be quoted as 
precedents of any proceeding which can pretend to be 
of a legal or judicial character. 

If such high praise was, in the judgment of Mr. Fox, 
due to Cromwell for the publicity of the proceeding 
against the King, how would he have found language 
sufficiently commendatory to express his admiration of 
the magnanimity of those who brought Lewis the 
Sixteenth to an open trial! His indeed was a public 
one, by a body of men chosen by popular elections, 
who, however, had not confidence enough in their 
constituents concurring with them in the measure, to 
induce them to agree to an appeal to the people* 
notwithstanding the nation was in a state of irritability, 
artfully worked up almost to phrenzy. And yet it will 
hardly be said, that Englishmen generally have con- 
sidered that act as exalting the character of the French 
nation ; or that it entitled the Girondists, or the Ter- 
rorists who were acting with them, to much respect. 

In that instance, however, there does not seem to 
have been a predetermined resolution to put Lewis the 
Sixteenth to death ; although there would not probably 
have been a prospect of his recovering his liberty, if 

c2 



12 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section he had escaped with his life. But as it would be 
" difficult to form a probable conjecture of the sentiments 

of foreigners respecting the execution of Charles the 
First, it is not worth while to oppose the opinion of 
any, expressed either in writing or conversation, to 
those stated by Mr. Fox. 

^rioK S the COnd ^ ne discussion ul tne second period, ending in 1640, 
English Hbwry. m ight perhaps have included the third, ending with 
the death of Charles the Second, and not improperly 
have been extended to the Revolution ; as the measures 
in the reign of James the First, and the early part of 
Charles the First, produced the consequences which 
followed in the remaining part of the latter reign, and 
in the reign of his son and successor. The termination 
of the third period with the reign of Charles the Second 
seems not to have been well considered ; as the reign 
of his brother was surely not less remarkable for re- 
ligious dispute and political contest than his own. 

Mr.FWsiast This lastperiod, between 1640 and 1684, is fixed on 
by Mr. Fox as the one in which the most memorable 
and salutary improvements were made in our laws, 
and in which there was the most abandoned admini- 
stration of them : in fine, he adds, " whatever can 
** happen to a nation, whether of glorious or cala- 
" mitous, makes a part of this astonishing and 

2 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. IS 

" instructive picture*:" and afterwards points out a section 



particular year within that period, when the consti- 
tution had attained its greatest perfection ; the cor- 
rectness of which we shall consider in its proper place. 

Our attention is next attracted . by Mr. Fox's character of 

J Monk. 

observations respecting General Monk ; of whom he 
says : " The army had fallen into the hands of one, 
" than whom a baser could not be found in its lowest 
" ranks. Personal courage appears to have been 
" Monk's only virtue : reserve and dissimulation made 
" up the whole stock of his wisdom. But to this man 
" did the nation look up, ready to receive from his 
" orders the form of government he should choose to 
" prescribe •f" And a little farther he adds : " And 
" if the promise of indemnity may seem to argue that 
" there was some attention at least paid to the safety 
" of his associates in arms, his subsequent conduct 
" gives reason to suppose, that even this provision was 
" owing to any other cause, rather than to any 
" generous feeling of his breast : for he afterwards not 
" only acquiesced in the insults so meanly put upon 
" the illustrious corpse of Blake, under whose auspices 
" and command he had performed the most creditable 
" services of his life ; but, in the trial of Argyle, pro- 
" duced letters of friendship and confidence, to take 

* Mr, Fox's Historical Work, p. 9. f Ibid. p. 19. 



14 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
I. 



" away the life of a nobleman, the zeal and cordiality 
" of whose co-operation with him, proved by such 
" documents, was the chief ground of his execution : 
" thus gratuitously surpassing in infamy those miser- 
" able wretches, who, to save their own lives, are 
" sometimes persuaded to impeach and swear away 
" the lives of their accomplices *." 



Mr. Fox's cen- 
sure on him for 



I Mil). 



In these passages there is a severity, neither sup- 
puSs 11 ^" ported by popular belief, nor by the authority of 
^ Ae'sSto^* history. The General contributed to the overturning 
a government, which Mr. Fox, with all his seeming 
partiality for one partaking much of republican 
principles, would not have ventured to recommend. 
And although there might have been reason to regret 
that Monk did not, in the case of the Monarch he was 
about to restore, attempt at least to stipulate for 
restrictions on the power which had been abused in the 
former reigns ; it must be recollected that, in the crisis 
of this event, there could hardly have been time or 
opportunity for settling the boundaries of future power 
in any branch of the government. The restoration of 
the Monarchy of England might, in his opinion, have 
implied all the limitations of its ancient constitution ; 
and it might have appeared to him, that any delay in 
devising provisions " in favour of the cause of liberty," 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. so. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK, 15 

as Mr. Fox expresses it, would have incurred a serious section 

risk of defeating the principal measure altogether. He ■ 

might too have been less anxious in that respect, from 
his having been witness of a liberty, in the abuse of 
which the nation had found itself the slave of despotic 
power, though exercised under another name than that 
of King. 

It is remarkable that, in the very next page to that 
containing the character of Cromwell, to whom no vice 
is imputed but that of hypocrisy, this of Monk should 
have been drawn, in contradiction to the opinion of his 
contemporaries, and the united testimony of historians, 
with the single exception of Bishop Burnet *, in terms 
which stigmatize him with every baseness, and allow him 
no virtue (or rather good quality) but personal courage. 

It will require a great partiality for a republican 
form of government to account for this predilection in 

* The experience the author had of how very little reliance was to be 
placed on the Bishop's single authority, led him to entertain a strong 
suspicion respecting the production of the Marquis of Argyle's letters by 
JMohk : and having observed the reliance placed on the Bishop's accuracy 
throughout the work, he was induced to collect such evidence as he 
could immediately meet with, in support of the opinion he has very long 
entertained ; contrary to the one expressed by Mr. Fox, who says, " that 
f* an unfortunate inattention on the part of the reverend historian to 
" forms, has made his veracity unjustly called in question." P. 140, of 
his Historical Work. The paper containing which evidence will be found 
in the Appendix, as it is too long for a note. 



I'd OBSERVATIONS ON 

section favour of the destroyer of a Monarchy, and this pre- 

judice against the restorer of it. In support of this 

general character of Monk, the most positive evidence 
of his guilt was looked for, with respect to the two 
specific facts with which he is charged ; because, if 
some censure was called for on a general, " who had 
" gained his rank, reputation, and station in the 
" service of a republic, and of what he as well as 
*' others called, however falsely, the cause of liberty, 
" made no scruple to lay the nation prostrate at 
*\ the feet of a Monarch, without a single provision in 
" favour of the cause ;" it should yet be recollected, that 
in .this instance, in addition to what has been already 
suggested, the General might have been so disgusted 
with the scenes which had passed under his eve, 
during the usurpation of Cromwell, and the govern- 
ment which succeeded to that, as to feel himself happy 
in giving his assistance to bring about any change likely 
to restore order : and that however anxious he believed 
the body of the people to be for the restoration of 
Royalty, (for it was not from personal attachment to 
Charles that so much zeal was shewn,) he might have 
apprehended he should incur some risk of disappoint- 
ment from his army, if he had attempted any thing 
which would have led to difficult and perplexing 
discussions ; especially as he appears to have had so 
little confidence in their co-operation, that in his whole 
march from Scotland, and for some time after his 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 17 

arrival in London, he carried on his design with great section 
secrecy, management, and adroitness. 

The character of Monk does not appear to be so 
perfect as to justify unqualified praise being bestowed 
upon his memory : but it must be admitted, that the 
protection of the people against future encroachments 
by the Crown not having been provided for, should not 
be imputed exclusively to him. 

After the abdication of Ridhard Cromwell, the Rump Conduct of Ae 

* ParliAment in 

Parliament met; and then the excluded members ^""P"*- 
obtained admission. After which, Fleetwood, who 
was Commander in Chief of the army in England, 
agreed to send Whitelock to the King, at the instance 
of the latter, with an offer of his restoration " upon 
" such terms as the King should agree upon;" from 
which Fleetwood was diverted by Vane, Desborough, 
and Berry, who urged that he could not stir in the 
business without the consent ©f Lambert, who wa-s at 
a distance *. But before there was any direct inter- 
course with the King, the remains of the Parliament 
had dissolved themselves, after passing a vote that no 
one who had been in arms against the Parliament 
should be eligible to the new one, in-order to guard as 
effectually as they could against the choice of royalists^: 

* Whkelocke Memoirs, p. 690. 
D 



18 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 



and in consequence of writs having been sent generally 
*"* throughout England, a free convention met, in which 
the Lords assembled also. It was, therefore, by an 
assembly, elected by the unbiassed voice of the people, 
in pursuance of an act of the Commonwealth Par- 
liament, under the restriction of that vote, that the 
King, banished and proscribed, in poverty and 
distress, and entirely unprotected by any foreign 
Sovereign, was called to his- throne without conditions: 
in which the Lords, who had been deprived of their 
power from the death of the late King, concurred ; 
they having re-entered their house, and having been 
acknowledged by the Commons as a part of the 
legislature. 

Difference of Without meaning to press arguments in defence of 

circumstances at ™ * ■ . 

ReXattntnd 6 ^ n y °f tnese parties, it must be admitted that they 
theferoiHtioii. werc un( ] er verv different circumstances, in all respects, 
from the persons to whom wc are indebted for having 
secured to us our religion, our laws, and our liberties, 
by the Declaration of Rights, and other proceedings at 
the Revolution. It is not improbable, that if any man, 
at the Restoration, had even suggested a new check 
on the regal power, he would have been considered as 
an enemy to Royalty, and would have been treated 
accordingly *. It is evident that at that time the 

* Welwood, who wrote an account of the transactions of these times, 
at the express desire of Queen Mary, after whose death they were found 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 19 



attention of almost all the persons, whose opinions 
were likely to have influenced them to adopt measures 
of wise precaution to guard against future evils, were 
entirely occupied in providing for their own safety : 
Whereas, in the latter period, there was full leisure for 
deliberation; and the situation of the expectants of 
the crown enabled the eminent men of that time to 
make such stipulations as they thought necessary for 
the security and the happiness of the people. In such 
a state of things, the wisdom, the experience, the 
talents, the political courage, and the virtue of Lord 
Sommers alone would have been almost sufficient to 
have ensured the success of the measures, which have 
happily proved to be so effectual for the attainment 
of their object. 

On an impartial review of the state of matters, 
previous to the Restoration, (according to Mr. Fox, 
the worst sort of revolution,) it appears that too much 
praise has been bestowed on Monk by those who 
approved of the measure, and too much censure by 

in her cabinet,- and were then printed with a dedication to King William, 
«ays, «* It looks as if Heaven took a more than ordinary care of England, 
<« that we did not throw tip our liberties all at once, upon the restoration 
«« of the King; for, although some were for bringing him back upon 
** terms, yet after he was once come, he possessed so entirely the hearts 
" of his people, that they thought nothing was too much for them to 
« grant, or for liira to receive." 

d2 



SECTION 
I. 



20 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section those who disapproved of it. It is true thai he gave 
5 _.w_ great furtherance to it; but in doing so, he only fell in 
with the eager and anxious wishes of almost all descrip- 
tions of men in the country : for we can now hardly- 
trace a movement to attempt to prevent it, except 
by individuals who were under apprehensions fop 
their, personal safety. 

Even the seizure of the Grown lands, and the sale of 
the Bishops' lands, which took place during the civil 
war, which it was supposed would operate powerfully 
against restoring the former government*, do not 
appear to have had any effect in checking the zeal of 
the people, who called loudly for its restoration; 
although it was believed there were above four hundred 
thousand families in the kingdom engaged to the Par- 
liament by those purchases -f.. Ludlow says, authority 
was given to sell the estates of the Grown and the 
Church, if ten years value could be had for them ; but 
that they were sold at the clear income of fifteen, 
sixteen,, and seventeen years :. and that the ministers, 
whose maintenance was enlarged by the impropriations 
belonging to the Bishops and Deans and Chapters, 
could not be restrained from inveighing against the 
Parliament, and conspiring with their enemies both at 

: * The names of the purchasers of the Bishops' lands will be found io. 
Willis's Survey of the Cathedrals. 

•f Lord Son-.mers's Tracts, Vol. iv. p. 4S5. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 21 

home and abroad *. It is certain too, that great section* 
numbers of the officers and soldiers had assignments, ~ 

for arrears due to them, on the estates of persons who 
had forfeited those- estates for their adherence to 
the King. 



The story respecting the treatment of the corpse of 
Blake rests on the authority of Neale's History of the 
<Puritans -f ; and is refuted by Grey,, in his impartial 
examination of that history J, and by clear, evidence 
adduced by Bishop Kennet in his Historical Register §. 
It appears by the latter, that, after the Restoration, 
there was an order to remove the dead bodies of those 
who had acted against the King, and had been buried 
in Westminster Abbey ; amongst others, those of 
Cromwell, Ireton,. &c. whose remains were igno- 
miniously treated ; but Blake's was with great decency 
re-interred in, St. Margaret's Church- Yard ||. 
• 

*■ Ludlow's Memoirs, Vol. i. p. 299. 

■f Vol. iv. p. 174.- % Vol. iii. p. 315. § Page 536.' 

. || In the weekly paper (in possession of the author) .entitled Mercurius- 
Puhlicus, No. 4. published by authority, -there is the following paragraph.. 
*f Westminster, this day, (January 26th, 1661,) in pursuance of an: order- 
•/ of Parliament, the carcases of those two horrid regicides, Oliver 
"Cromwell and Henry Ireton, were digged up out of their graves, 
" which (with those of John Bradshaw and Thomas Pride) are to be 
* hanged up at Tyburn and buried under the gallows." And in the next 
number of the paper, the particulars are stated; but not a syllable- 
respecting the corpse .of Blake. . . . • 



Treatment of the 
corpse of Blake w 



22 



OBSERVATIONS ON" 



SECTION 
I. 

Charge against 
Monk of having 
furnished evi- 
dence for the 
conviction of 
the Marquis of 
Argyle. 



On considering the evidence accessible to every one^ 
when Mr. Fox wrote, respecting the share Monk is 
represented to have had in the death of the Marquis 
of Argyle, it will be found that the charge against him 
for so infamous an act rested, as has been observed, 
on the assertion of Bishop Burnet, which appears to 
have been satisfactorily refuted by Doctor Campbell, 
who, notwithstanding his political principles, was most 
zealously attached to the family of ArgyJe. In his 
Lives of the Admirals *, he states, in contradiction to 
the Bishop, that the fact cannot be true; in support 
of which he adduces reasons, referring to proofs not 
only of Monk's innocence as to that charge, but of his 
being an advocate for mercy even to the regicides : and 
further arguments, with reference to authorities, are 
adduced by the same author, in the article of Campbell 



■* Third edition, Vol. ii. p. 431. The whole of Doctor Campbell's 
papers were, after his death, given by his widow to the author, among 
which are several that were collected for a new edition of the work, that 
' he did not live to publish ; but unfortunately are not now in such order 
as to afford a chance of any further assistance being derived from them. 
Respecting this point, Mr. Lang, in his History of Scotland, also relies 
on the Bishop's authority, confirmed, as he says, by Baillie, Vol. ii. 
p. 431. and by Cunningham, in his History of Britain, Vol. i. p. 13. 
It has, therefore, been thought right to insert Doctor Campbell's reasons, 
in support of his assertion, in the Appendix, as his Lives of the Admirals 
and the Biographia may not be in the hand of every reader. Lord 
Dartmouth, in his MS. on Burnet, page 199, line 8, says, " the Bishop 
« delights in throwing dirt on the Duke of Albemarle." 



MR. POx's HISTORICAL WORK. 2 

(Archibald) Marquis of Argyle, in the Biographia 6ec ™n 
Britannica, to prove the falsehood of the charge. " = 

"Wood row, an historian zealously attached to th& 
Presbyterian cause, who lived soon after the event, 
and was remarkably industrious in searching records^, 
and collecting anecdotes* especially such as affected 
leaders in that party, is entirely silent on the point* . 
The reliance, however, placed by Mr. Fox on this 
anecdote appeared to call for a further attentive 
investigation, in order to ascertain the truth or false- 
hood of it. Without resting, therefore,- on the industry 
which had been applied formerly, a diligent search 
was first made amongst the records of the Parliament, 
the Council, and the Justiciary in Scotland, to discover 
whether any trace of the fact alleged could be met 
with in the proceedings on the trial of the Marquis: 
but a chasm in those periods rendered that search 
ineffectual. Recourse was next had to a collection 
of all the publications during the civil war, and 
some years after the Restoration, supposed to be 
complete 9 ; several of them Written after the death 
of the Marquis, and some by persons devoted to his 
memory ; giving accounts of what was most interesting 
respecting him, and of what passed at his trial, and to 

his latest moments : in no one of which is there the 
< 

* In the possession of the author. 






24 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section remotest allusion to papers of any sort having been 
" read, previously to passing sentence on him, in aggra- 
vation of his offence. 

No better success attended a most diligent search in 
a collection of the books and pamphlets, printed in the 
reigns of King Charles the .First and Second, presented 
by His Majesty to the British Museum, in which there 
are no less than seven different tracts respecting the 
trial and execution of the Marquis, published in 
.London and Edinburgh in 1661 ; one intituled the last 
proceedings against him, " containing, inter alia, a 
" speech of his, in which he expressly denies having 
" had any epistolary intercourse with Cromwell, or 
" .any of that sectarious army *." 

The inquiry, however, did not end tlrere. Thurloe's 
State Papers having been referred to in the Biographia 
Britannica on the subject, an examination was made 
through that voluminous collection, whether there had 
been any communication between the Marquis of 
.Argyle and Monk ; but nothing of the sort could be 
found : on the contrary, there is, besides the passages 
.referred to in the Biographia, the heads of a discourse 
between the exiled King and Don John of Austria-f-, 

* The last Proceedings against the Marquis of Argyll, &c. London, 
1661, 4to. 
t Thurloe's State Papers, Vol. v. p, 604. 



HR. POXS HISTORICAL WORK. 2 

on the state of Scotland in the end of 1656, which section 
afford strong presumptive evidence that no confidential ' 

letters, especially of such high importance to the 
writer as those alluded to, were written by the 
Marquis. 

Skinner, chaplain to Monk, in his Life of the 
General, who would not have ventured to make a false 
assertion, at a time when the means of contradicting 
it were in the hands of every one, in giving an account 
of the trial of the regicides, says, " In the number of 
" the commissioners, the Duke of Albemarle was one; 
" wherein he gave the world one of the greatest 
" instances of his moderation : for, though he knew 
" more of the guilt and practices of these criminals 
" than most of those who sat on the bench, and some 
" of them had been his greatest and most inveteiate 
" enemies, yet he aggravated nothing against them; 
" but left them to a fair trial, and the methods of 
" their own defence; when he could have offered 
" matter against some of them that would have pressed 
" them harder : and, by a generous way of forgiving 
" injuries, he had a little before saved the life of Sir 
" Arthur Haselrigge, and afterwards procured his 
" estate also, by owning a promise made to him, when 
" there was no man among them all who had more 
" maliciously exposed or traduced him/' 



26 



OBSERVATIONS OH 



SECTION 
I. 



In order, however, to leave no source of information 
untried, recourse was had, last of all, to the news- 
papers of the time *, in which particular accounts of the 
proceedings on the trial of the Marquis at Edinburgh 
were given from day to day; but not a syllable of 
the pretended communication made by Monk is to be 
found in them. It is hardly possible to conceive that 
stronger evidence could be found in any case to 
establish a negative, than is here produced to prove 
the falsehood of the Bishop's charge. We must there- 
fore believe, that if Mr. Fox had informed himself 
fully on the subject, he would have been induced to 
forbear the positive condemnation of Monk, and the 
consequent severe censure upon him. 



Alleged perfec- 
tion of the 

British Consti- 
tution iu 1679. 



Mr. Fox next remarks again on the perfection of our 
constitution in this reign, " as the aera of good laws 
" and bad government;" and, on the authority of a 
modern writer of great eminence, fixes the year 1679 
" as the period at which our constitution had arrived 
" at its greatest theoretical perfection :" and, follow- 
ing his author, he produces, as instances in support 
of the opinion quoted, " the abolition of the Court of 
" Wards; the repeal of the writ de Heretico Com- 
" burendo ; the Triennial Parliament Bill ; the esta- 
*' blishment of the right of the House of Commons in 



la the possession of the author. 



Blackstone's 
authority on 
the subject, 



mr. fox's historical work. 27 

" regard to impeachment; the expiration of the section 
" Licence Act; and, above all, the glorious statute of 
" Habeas Corpus *." 

Of Mr. Justice Blackstone's authority I entertain an J£; Justice 
opinion very widely different from the one expressed of 
the Bishop lately alluded to. His eminent character for 
the strictest probity and great learning well entitles it to 
the utmost respect. Advantage has indeed been taken 
of liis learning, in the course of these observations ; but 
allowing for all the deference due to him, even his high 
authority should not prevent any dictum of his -f from 
being examined and canvassed. His Commentaries 
are an inestimable treasure to all who wish to be 
informed on our laws and our constitution : and it is 
not very wonderful if, in a work which embraces so 
great a variety of matter, something should have 
escaped even his accurate mind. Let us examine 
the instances adduced by the learned judge, and 
adopted by Mr. Fox, in the reign of Charles the 
Second. 



* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 21. 

f Lord Coke, one of the very highest legal and constitutional authorities, 
has lately been found to be inaccurate in two points ; one of a considerable 
degree of curiosity relative to the early history of Parliament ; which arc 
taken notice of in the author's report on the records before referred to. 
Report on Public Records, 1800, p. 44 to 46, 
E2 



Abolition of the 
Court of Wards. 



28 ' OBSERVATIONS ON 

section The act * which abolished the Court of Wards, in 

depriving the King of his right of granting wardships 
and marriages, certainly afforded very great relief to 
the wealthier and higher orders in the community, on 
whom that last remnant of the feudal law pressed 
inconveniently. The statute alluded to took away the 
tenure by Knights service, and converted it into free 
and common socage. The system thus nearly put an 
end to was as old as the Saxon law : wardships were 
regulated by Magna Charta, 9th Henry III., and 
subsequent statutes ; but the Court of "Wards was not 
erected till the reign of Henry the Eighth -f-. The King, 
in virtue of this tenure, had the wardship of all infant 
heirs male, with the benefit of their estates, till they 
arrived at the age of twenty-one years ; and of female 
heirs, till they were sixteen years of age, if they so lone 
remained unmarried ; and the power of marrying both 
the one and the other to whom he pleased, or of 
granting the same to any favourite ; together with a 
year or half-a-year's rent, on their coming of age, for 
their relief. In addition to which, the wards were at 
considerable trouble and expence in sueing out their 
livery. The- composition for the Court of Wards was 
estimated at L. 100,000 a-year+. The right of the 

* 12. Charles II. chap. 24. f 32 Henry VIII. chap. 6. 

% Journals of the House, of Commons, Vol. viii. p. 150. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 2Q 

Crown, which had been found so oppressive to the section 

great land-holders, was however not got rid of without 

a valuable consideration, by the grant of a perpetual 
excise, which was made by the same act that abolished 
the Court of Wards ; a mode of collecting a revenue 
then first established, except during the usurpation: 
and the commutation of this hereditary charge was so 
far from being generally approved of, that the question 
in favour of it was carried by the friends of the Govern- 
ment by a majority of only two *. 

The writ de Heretico Comburendo had been a dead wfitfrHmtiM 

Combuvendo. 

letter for more than a century, and there was not the 
remotest chance of its ever being revived: 

The Triennial Parliament Bill, as it is called by the Bin for Trivial 

^ Parliaments. 

learned Judge and the Historian, was a most extra- 
ordinary measure for exultation. Previous to the 
reign of Charles the First, two laws were in force on 
the subject f, under which it was required that a Par- 
liament should be holden every year ; but there was no 
compulsory clause in either : in consequence whereof 
they were found to be ineffectual, so early as in the reign 
in which they were enacted ; but the law continued in 
the same state from the time of these enactments to the 
year 1640. The long intervals which had occurred in 

* 151 to 149. Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. viii. p. 188. 
f 4 Edward III. chap. 14, and 36 Edward III. chap. JO. 



SO OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
I. 



the reigns of James the First and his son, especially 
the last, of thirteen years, induced the Long Parlia- 
ment soon after their meeting to pass an act *, reciting 
that by the laws in force a Parliament ought to be 
liolden once ever}' year, the departure from which had 
produced great inconvenience ; and then enacting most 
effectual provisions, that could not be defeated or 
evaded by the Crown, or its ministers, to ensure the 
meeting of a Parliament, and the continuance of its 
sitting, once in three years at the least; which law was 
repealed (by the one in force in 1679 i) in the fourth 
year after the Restoration, " as derogatory to the King's 
" rights :" the latter simply enacting that the sitting 
of Parliament shall not be intermitted or discontinued 
above three years; without one compulsory clause in it 
to give it force or effect; whereby opportunities were 
afforded for the easy violation of it in this reign and 
the next. The country could not, therefore, justly 
be stated to be in an improved situation in the year 
167 9, respecting the frequent or regular meeti 
Parliament ; as the imperfect act, commended by Mr, 
Justice JBlackstone and Mr. Fox, repealed the effectual 
one which had been passed in the former reign ; and 
left the uncertainty of the regular assembling of Par- 
liament in the state in which it was under the acts of 
Edward the Third. Mr. Fox indeed, in the beginning 

* 16 Charles I. chap. 1. f 16 Charles II. chap. 1. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK, 31 

of his account of the next reign, observes on Charles's section 
disuse of Parliaments, in defiance of the statute of the ' 

sixteenth year of his reign ; which should have brought 
to his view the insufficiency of that statute, and the 
efficacy of the one repealed by it. After the Revolu- 
tion, an act * was passed to prevent the discontinuance 
of Parliaments for more than three years ; which term 
was extended, in the reign of George the First, to 
seven years -j-. 

What is meant by " the establishment of the right of £ igks0 ^ he 

J O House of Com- 

" the House of Commons in regard to impeachment/' JJJJSJEJ? 
it is not easy to understand. That right, it is con- 
ceived, had never been disputed J ; and the exercise 
of it had been frequent : but the Crown claimed and 
vised the right § of pardoning offenders so proceeded 
against, which necessarily took away much of its 

* 6 William and Mary, chap. 2. f 1 George I. stat. 2. chap. 38. 

$ The attempt of the House of Commons to protect Fitz-harris (who 
was afterwards hanged under a sentence of the Court of King's Bench) 
from proceedings against him in that Court, by an impeachment which 
they made the Secretary of State carry up to the Lords, had not then 
been made. 

$ In this year, 1679, the King pardoned the Earl of Danby, to prevent 
his being tried on an impeachment, to which the Commons certainly 
objected with great violence ; but the King persisted successfully : for, 
although the Earl was long imprisoned, he was not brought to a trial. 
There is, in Barillon's Correspondence, much curious information re- 
specting the intrigues of Sunderland with the French Court for the 
measures against the Treasurer. 

8 



32 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section effect; and it was not till after the Revolution, that 

~" the King was deprived of that right by an express 

law *. 



Licensing a«. The next instance produced, to prove the reign of 
Charles the Second to be the aera of good laws, 
appears to be the most extraordinary of the whole, 
" the expiration of the act for licensing books," Sec. 
This act was unquestionably a great restraint on the 
freedom of the press; but it was merely a temporary 
lawf-, enacted for the first time in this reign, in l6o"2, 
for two years; and was continued, in \6(J5, only to the 
end of the first session of the next Parliament J. 

Habeas Corpus On the Habeas Corpus Act, the great palladium of 
the liberty of the subject, too much praise cannot be 
bestowed ; but even that had not its origin in this 
reign : the foundation was laid in the preceding 
one§. The act passed in l6?9 greatly extended the 
remedy, and made it effectual ; of which the second 
Parliament, dissolved in May in this year, had the 
merit. 



* 12 and 13 William III. chap. 2. sect. 3. 

f 13 and 14 Charles II. chap. 33. 16 and 17 Charles II. chap. 7. 
and 17 Charles II. chap. 4. 

$ It was revived as a temporary law in the reign of James the Second. 

§ By the 16 Charles I. chap. 10. sect. 8. which provided a Habeas 
Corpus, in all cases of commitments by the King or Privy Council. 



MR. FOIx's HISTORICAL: WORK. S3 

Having assumed, with Mr. Justice Blackstone, this section. 

** greatest theoretical perfection," and referred to the Ml , Fox . sre . ' 

Judge's note upon, the passage alluded to, "that the MegT P erkJon 

" times immediately following were times of great chJesli:? 

• l ■ ' » nr n l l -inn c l i tiroe* an£ l on && 

" practical oppression ; Mr. fox adds, " What a field n»i-adminisu*. 

' ' tion of them.. 

** for meditation does this short observation from such 
*• a man furnish ! What reflection does it not suggest 
" to a thinking mind, upon the inefficacy. of human 
" laws, and the imperfection of human constitutions ! 
" We are called from the contemplation of the progress 
" of our constitution; and our attention fixed with the 
" most minute accuracy to a particular point, when it 
" is said to have risen to its utmost perfection. Here 
« we are then at the best moment of the best constituw 
a tion that ever human wisdom framed." i 

Is this the deliberate judgment of any reflecting 
mind now? It was certainly not the opinion of the 
House of Commons immediately afterwards. They 
were then aware of the imperfections in our constitu- 
tion, from the absence of means to secure the holding of 
a Parliament ; and from the manifest defect in the ad- 
ministration of the wholesome laws which had been 
enacted, owing to the tenure of the commissions of the 
Judges, on whom the administration of justice depended, 
being only during pleasure : for in the next year to the 
one. selected, in which the constitution is stated to havq 
arrived at its greatest theoretical perfection, a bill ,wa& 

F 



jiut cause. 



34 OBSERVATIONS ON" 

section brought into that House to secure the more frequent 

' meeting of Parliaments; the appointment of the 

Judges for life; and to prevent undue exactions of 

money from the subject * : the progress of which bill 

was stopped by a prorogation. 

Remove of Instances are not wanting in this reign and the next, 

Judges without ° c ' 

of the removal of Judges, to answer the purposes of 
the Court. Jeffries was appointed Chief Justice of the 
King's Bench, that he might preside at the trial of 
Sydney ; Pemberton, who presided at the trial of Lord 
Russell, was himself afterwards removed, for not 
doing all that was expected from him : and some of 
those who were appointed by James, for the attain- 
ment of his objects, were themselves dismissed by him, 
for not being sufficiently subservient to his views. 

Sir John Reresby, who, though disapproving of the 
violent measures of James, adhered to him to the last, was 
aware of this reprehensible conduct in the dismission of 
the Judges without cause, and observes, " Accordingly 
" this day, being the first day of Term, a great change 
" was made among the Judges in Westminster Hall. 
" There was a new Chief Justice of the Common 

* Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. ix. p. 6S2, 683. And an 
address was in the mean time presented to the King, " entreating that 
" men of ability and integrity might be appointed Judges, to hold their 
" commissions quamdiu se bene gesserint." 



mn. FOX 9 HISTORICAL WORK. 3$ 

*', Pleas, and another new Judge of the same bench ; section 

" there was a new Chief Baron: in fine, four new * 

" Judges of the several courts *. This made a con- 
" siderable noise, as the gentlemen now displaced 
" were of great learning and loyalty ; and whose only 
" crime bad been, tbey would not give their opinion, 
" as several of their brethren had done, that the King, 
" by his prerogative, might dispense with the test 
" required of Roman Catholics/' 

And in Macpherson's Collection, there is a letter 
from Mr. Price (afterwards a Baron of the Exchequer) 
to the Duke of Beaufort, of the 30th of June, the day 
after the trial of the Bishops, in which he says, 
" I doubt this day's work will give Justice Powell a 
"■ removal, and it is thought Holloway also; there 
" being candidates enough for the vacancies ?fj/' 

* The Judges at this time removed, on the question of the King's dis- 
pensing power, were Jones and Montague, chiefs ; and Charlton and 
Neville, puisnes •, who were succeeded by Bedingfield, Atkyns, Lutwich, 
and Heath. There seems, in early times, to have been something strange 
jn the wording of the patents of the Judges. On a search in the Rolls, 
lately made, it appears that, during the reigns of Elizabeth and James the 
First, the commissions of the Chief Justice of the King's Bench were 
general, without any specification of the tenure } that the puisne Judges 
of that Court, and all the Judges of the Common Pleas, were quamdiu 
nobis placuerit ; and the Chief and other Barons of the Exchequer were 
quamdiu se bene gesserint ,• and so they continued till the appointment of Sir 
Humphrey Davenport, 6th Charles, which was quamdiu nobis placuerit; 
and the patents of the other Barons were afterwards conformable thereto* 

■f Macpherson's Original Papers, Vol. i. p. 266. 
e2. 



36 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section ' The time of oppression and misery, which followed 
*; — : T"r the sera selected by our author, is imputed by him to 

Long intervals of J ' l •/ 

Parliaments. M a corrU pt and wicked administration, which all the 
** so much admired checks of the constitution were 
" not able to prevent/' May we not, however, ask 
if there is not a reasonable presumption, that if an 
effectual provision had been made to guard against 
long intervals of Parliaments, and to secure the inde- 
pendence of the Judges, that the illegal and oppressive 
measures, justly exclaimed against, would either have 
i^een avoided or punished ? The question is in truth 
answered by experience, referred to by Mr. Fox him- 
self; for in another part of his work, where he 
compares the culpable proceedings of Lord Godolphin 
and Lord Churchill, in the reign of James the Second, 
^vith their meritorious conduct in the reign of Queen 
Anne, he asks, " Is the difference to .be attributed to 
" any superiority of genius in the Prince whom they 
<s served in the latter period of their lives ? Queen 
" Anne's capacity appears to have been inferior even 
" to her father's. Did they enjoy in a greater degree 
" her favour and confidence ? The xcry reverse is the 
" fact. But in one case, they were the tools of a 
" King, plotting against his people; in the other, 
" ministers of a free government, acting upon enlarged 
*' principles, and with energies which no state that 
4; is toot in some degree republican can supply *." 

* Mr. Fox'j Historical Work, p. 88. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 37 



SECTION 
L 



It must be admitted, that since the Judges have held 
their offices during good behaviour *, no such oppression 
and misery as complained of have happened. 

The best constituted government that ever was importance of 

° the independence 

framed (if there is a better than our own) must be of&ejudges. 
subject to the fatality of not deriving the full advantage 
of good and wholesome laws, if those who are to 
execute them are remiss, corrupt, or negligent. But 
there can be no better security for a due and . vigorous 
execution of the law, without which it must be a dead 
letter, than the perfect independence of the Judges : 
and it may be confidently asserted, that there is not 
on earth a country where that object is more com- 
pletely and effectually attained than in this ; or where r 
the administration of justice is more pure. 

This single article, the independence of the Judges,, 
is perhaps of greater importance, in a government like 

* By the 12th and 13th of William III. chap. 2. sect. 3. the Judges 
were established in their offices quamdiu se bene gesserint ; they were, 
however, held to be re moveable on the demise of the Crown: and it was 
not till the present reign that they were made irremoveable, except by 
address of both Houses ; which was at the recommendation of His 
Majesty, in a speech from the Throne, soon after his accession ; in 
which is the following sentence : " I look upon the independency and 
" uprightness of the Judges of the land as essential to the impartial 
" administration of justice ; as one of the best securities to the rights. 
*« and liberties of my loving subjects, and as most conducive to the 
" honour of the Crown." Lords' Journals, Vol. xxx, p. 78. 



38 ORSEKVATIONS ON 

section ourSj than any other, to the preservation of the liberties 
' of the country. Open stretches of arbitrary power in 

the Monarch himself, or exercises of authority beyond 
the known and established limits of the prerogative, 
are not hastily ventured on by the Sovereign, nor 
submitted to by the people ; but prosecutions and 
convictions, under colour of law, aided by Judges 
dependent on the Crown, and devoted lo its will, 
require less courage in the Sovereign, and create less 
alarm among his subjects. Liberty is assailed in one 
case by the sword, and in the other by poison ; and 
the spirit of resistance, which might defend it from the 
first, is unavailing against the latter. 

:. 
improvement of ]yj r . Fox's disposition to think that the best laws 

the constitution * 

Slfter k the at ca nnot afford security to the people under a mo- 
BcTOiutim. narchical government, induced him to rely on the 
statement of Mr. Justice Blackstone, who had certainly 
no such view in making it. But it is not easy to 
account for the reign of King William not having been 
selected, rather than that of Charles the Second, as 
the aera of good laws ; because three acts • were 
passed in that reign, of the highest importance to our 
rights and liberties ; which also ensured to us, as far as 

* I William and Mary, stat. i. chap. 18. the Toleration Act; 
I William and Mary, sess. 2. chap. 2. the Bill of Rights; and 12 and 
13 William III. chap. 2. the Act of Succession: these ate probably the 
laws referred to by Mr. Justice Blackstone. 

3 



39 



was then judged necessary, a succession of Protestant suction 
Princes. By the first, all Protestants dissenting from 
the Church of England are relieved from the penalties, 
of certain laws ; and by the two others, several powers, 
improperly assumed by the Crown, were cautiously 
guarded against in future ; and some important rights 
of the subject, which had been denied with impunity, 
were completely secured. 

But the improvement of the constitution after the 
Revolution was not confined to the enactment of new 
laws, as advantage was derived also from the repeal of 
provisions in three that were unfavourable to it, which 
were in force in 1679*. Mr. Justice Blackstone 
indeed, in another part of his excellent Commentaries, 
states expressly that great improvements have been 
made in our laws since the Revolution. 

Had Mr. Fox accompanied that attentive examina- 
tion, to which those respective periods are entitled, 
with the impartiality which it is the essence of his- 
torical discussion to preserve, he would probably have 
found, from the instances which have been briefly 



* The oaths in the act for regulating corporations, 13 Charles II. 
«tat. 2. chap. 1. and in the 13th and 14th of Charles II. chap. 3 and 4; 
the foundation for which was laid in the first of those sham plots that 
were a disgrace to the country in that period. These were repealed by 
1 William and Mary, chap, 8. and 5 George I. chap. 6. 



40 OBSERVATIONS, &C, 

section noticed, much reason to entertain a doubt in those 

leading positions which he has laid down in this part of 

his work ; that the sera in question was one of the 
greatest perfection in laws, and of the most flagrant 
abuses in Government ;— and that, in a monarchy, the 
force of the legislative provisions against despotism is. 
easily overpowered by the ambition of the Monarch,, 
and the subserviency of his ministers. 



SECTION THE SECOND. 



f5 



CONTENTS. 



Treaty of 1670, for the Subjugation of Holland to "franee, and for 
other French Objects, Charles becoming a Convert to the Catholie 
Religion ; and securing a Stipend from Lewis XIV*. to Charles II.—. 
Money Transactions of the latter with the Court of France. — Corruption 
of Charles's Ministers. — Intrigues of the French Ambassador with the 
popular Party in England. — Stipulations made by Lewis XIV. with 
Charles, for the pecuniary Assistance he afforded him. 



v6 



SECTION THE SECOND. 



historical part of Mr. Fox's work, though section 



X he 

classed with the prefatory reflections, under the title ■ 

of Introduction, begins at the Restoration; and, with treachery toius 

ministers, 

a few remarks on the administration of the Lords 
Southampton and Clarendon, Mr. Fox passes on to 
the year 1670, and then, after describing the ministry 
known by the name of the Cabal, as having consisted 
of characters so unprincipled, as justly to deserve the 
severity with which they have been treated by all 
writers who have mentioned them, he adds, " but if it 
" is probable that they were ready to betray their 
" King, as well as their country, it is certain that the 
" King betrayed them ; keeping from them the real 
" state of his connection with France ; and from some 
" of them at least, the secret of what he was pleased to 



42 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section a ca ]j hi s religion*/' Mr. Fox does not however 

— decide, " whether this concealment, on the King's 

" part, arose from his habitual treachery, and from the 
" incapacity which men of that character feel of being 
" open and honest, even when they know it is their 
" interest to be so ; or from an apprehension that they 
" might demand for themselves some share of the 
" Trench money, which he was unwilling to give 
" themf." 

For that treachery, however, on the part of the 
King, no authority is quoted ; nor is there any pro- 
bability of the charge being well founded : for although 
it is stipulated by the 11th article, that the treaty 
should be kept secret till a fit time should occur for 
carrying it into execution, there is no reason for pre- 
suming that it was concealed from Charles's confidential 
servants. Dalrymple asserts only, that the treaty was 
unknown to the Protestant^: ministers; and even that 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 24. 

-J* This last is an extraordinary alternative, because it is evident from 
a variety of letters from Barillon to Lewis, in Dalrymple, one of which 
is amongst those printed by Mr. Fox, (page xxix of his Appendix,) that 
Charles's ministers were fully apprised of his money transactions with 
Lewis. 

% Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part i. page 57 and 77. In Macpherson's 
Original State Papers, Vol. i. page 48. it is stated that the persons con- 
sulted in the private treaty with Lewis were Lord Arundel, Lord Bcllafis, 
Lord Arlington, and Sir Thomas Clifford. Sec also other circumstances 
respecting it, pages 50, 52, 54, and 124, in Macpherson's first volume. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 4$ 

is not correct, because one of the English commissioners Action- 
who were appointed to negotiate it, and who actually ; % 

signed it, was Lord Arlington, at that time professing 
the Protestant religion, though he is represented to 
have been a concealed Catholic, and to have declared 
that faith publicly on his death-bed *. To one of his 
ministers, therefore, the whole of this treaty was per- 
fectly well known ; and that the same confidence was 
not placed in the Duke of Buckingham does not 
appear to be attributable to either of the causes sug- 
gested by Mr. Fox. To the Duchess of Orleans -f, his 
timidity was assigned as a reason ; and to Lewis the 
Fourteenth f, the impossibility of his keeping a secret ; 
which could have reference only to the article respect- 
ing Charles's religion. This is the more certain, as 
Buckingham's eagerness to enter into all the King's 
other views, in treating with France, is manifest by 
three letters under his own hand §, shewing his blind 
devotion and base servility to Lewis ; written on the 
occasion of the Traite simule, which was executed 
by Charles in the following year, with the knowledge 
of the Protestant ministers ; differing from the other in 
nothing essential except the provision about Charles's 
Catholicism. 

* Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part i. page 30. 
f The same part, page 27. 
X Colbert's Letter, 25th August, 1^70. 
$ Same part, page 69 to 75. 
G 2 



Secret treaty 
with Lewis in 
I669 and 1670, 



44 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section This secret treaty, which is an object of high im- 

portance, both as connected with the transactions 
going on at the time, and as an historical curiosity, is 
not in the depot ; nor does it appear to have been seen 
by any one who has written on the subject ; certainly 
not by any historian in this country ; nor arc its whole 
contents, it is believed, any where stated, although the 
project for it was found at Paris by Dairy in pie, and is 
printed at length by him *, with a letter from Colbert, 
then ambassador in England, to Lewis the Fourteenth, 
entering into points respecting it-j-. There is also a 
letter from Lewis to Charles, in which he tells him he 
has ratified it:]:. One of the originals is, however, in 
the possession of Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, which 
was shewn to the author when he was at Ugbrook, 
in the year 1781, by the father of the present Lord 
Clifford. Of which instrument the author taring had 
the good fortune to obtain a very correct abstract. 
from the present Lord Clifford, made by his Lordship, 
it is here inserted, that the substance of the whole 
may be before the public. The second article is 
copied at length verbatim, to shew the terms and con- 
ditions on which Charles agreed to embrace the 
Catholic religion ;— which referred only to his own 
profession of it. 

♦ Dalrymple, Vol. ii. page 44. t Ibidem, page 31. 

% Ibidem, page 57. 



mr. fox's historical work. 45 

SECTION 

General Abstract of the Treaty made at Dover, «> 



22d May, 1670. 

Charles and Lewis, being mutually desirous of 
contributing to the happiness of their subjects^ are 
assured by their own experience that the most effectual 
means of procuring it is by a close union and alliance 
between them ; and to secure the safety of their king* 
doms, and the advantages of their subjects, by a treaty 
of commerce to be hereafter concluded ; have named 
Lords Arlington, Arundell of Wardour, Sir T. Clifford 
and Bellings, and the Sieur Charles Colbert, as^com- 
missioners to carry into effect the following articles : 

I. — A perpetual alliance and friendship is agreed on 
for ever between the two Kings. 

2. — Respecting King Charles becoming a Catholic, 
in the following words : " Le Seigneur Roi de la 
" Grande Bretagne est convaincu de la verite de la 
" religion Catholique, et resolu d'en faire sa declara- 
** tion et de se reconcilier avec leglise Romaine, 
" aussitot que le bien des affaires de son royaume lui 
*t pourra permettre, a tout sujet d'esperer et de se 
"■ promettre de Taffection et de la fidelite de ses sujets 
to quaucun deuxmesme de ceux, sur qui Dieu n'aura 
" pas encore asses abondamment repandu ses graces 
" pour les disposer, par cet example si auguste a se 
" convertir, ne manqueront jamais a l'obeissance in- 



46 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section u violable que tous les peuples doivent a leurs Souve- 
' "-~ " rains, mesme de religion contraire ; neantmoins 

" corame il se trouve quelquefois des esprits brouillons 
" et inquiets, qui s'efforcent de troubler la trauquillite 
*' publique, principallement lorsqu'ils peuvent couvrir 
" Jeurs mauvais d'esseins du pretexte plausible de 
m religion: sa Majeste de la Grande Bretagne qui n'a 
** rien plus a coeur (apres le repos de sa conscience) 
" que d'affermir celui que la douceur de son gouverne- 
" ment a procure a ses sujets, a cru que le meilleur 
" moieh d'empecher qu'il ne fust altere, seroit d'etre 
" assure en cas de besoin de l'assistance de sa Majeste 
<s tres Chrestienne : la quelle, voulant en cette occasion 
" donner au Seigneur Roi de la Grande Bretagne des 
" preuves indubitables de la sinccrite de son amitie, 
" et contribuer au bon succes d'un dessein si glocieux, 
" si utila sa Majest6 de la Grande Bretagne, mesme 
" a toute la religion Catholique, a promis et promet 
" de donner pour cet effet au dit Seigneur Roi de la 
" Grande Bretagne, la somme de deux millions de 
" livres Tournoises ; dont la moitie sera payee troi* 
" mois apres Teschange des ratifications du present 
" traitte, en espece, a lordre du dit Seigneur Roi de la 
" Grande Bretagne, a Calais, Dieppe, ou bien au 
" Hauvre de Grace ; ou remis par lettres de change a 
" Londres aux risques, perils, et frais, du dit Seigneur 
" Roi tres Chrestien ; et l'autre moitie de la mesme 
" maniere dans trois mois apres : et en outre, le dit 
" Seigneur Roi ties Chrestien, s'oblige d'assister de 






MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 47 

" troupes sa Majeste de la Grande Bretagne, jusques SEC ™ N 

" au nombre de six mille hommes de pied, s'il est * 

" besoin, et mesme de les lever et entretenir a ses 

" propresfrais et despens, taut que le dit Seigneur Roi 

" de la Grande Bretagne jugera en avoir besoin pour 

" l'execution de son dessein. Et les dites troupes, 

" seront transporters par les vaisseaux du Roi de la 

" Grande Bretagne, en tels lieux et ports qu'il jugera 

" le plus a propos pour le bien de son service ; et du 

" jour de l'eur embarquement seront pa}'6es, ainsi qu'il 

" est dit, par sa Majeste tres Chrestienne, et obeiront 

" aux ordres du dit Seigneur Roi de la Grande Bre- 

** tagne. Et le temps de la dite declaration de 

t Catolicite, est entierement remis au choix du dit 

" Seigneur Roi de la Grande Bretagne*." 

3. — Provides that the King of France shall not 
break the peace he has made with Spain, nor infringe 

* " The King of Great Britain is convinced of the truth of the Catholic 
" religion ; and resolved to make his declaration of it, and to reconcile 
" himself with the Church of Rome, as soon as the affairs of his kingdom 
" shall be sufficiently established to permit him. He has every reason 
" to hope, and to be persuaded from the affections, and from the fidelity 
** of his subjects, that none of them, even of those on whom God shall 
«' not have yet so abundantly shed his grace as to dispose them, by this 
'« august example, to be converted, will never fail in the inviolable 
" obedience due from all people to their Sovereigns, even of a different 
'* religion. Nevertheless, as there appear sometimes turbulent and restless 
" spirits, whoendeavour to disturb the public tranquillity, chiefly when they 
" can conceal their evil designs under the plausible pretence of religion j 
** his Britannic Majesty,, who has nothing more at heart (after the repose 
" of his conscience) than to establish that, which the mildness of his 

6 



48 ^OBSERVATIONS ON 

section i tl any manner on the promises he made by the treaty 

— — ' of Aix la Ghapelle^ and that the King of Great Britain 

shall keep the said treaty in conformity to the con- 
ditions of the triple alliance. 

4.— That if in future the King of France shall have 
any fresh pretensions to the Crown of Spain, the King 
of England shall support him with all his forces by sea 
and land ; and not make any treaty with any other 



« government has procured to his subjects, believes that the best means 
« of preventing it from being disturbed is to be assured, in case of its 
" being required, of the assistance of his Most Christian Majesty •, who 
« being willing on this occasion to give to the King of Great Britain in- 
■*« disputable proofs of the sincerity of his friendship, and to contribute to 
" the full success of a design so glorious, so useful to his Majesty, and 
« even to the whole Catholic religion ; has promised, and promises, to 
« give for this purpose to the said King of Great Britain the sum of two 
" millions.of livres Tournois ; of which half shall be paid three months 
« after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, in specie, 
« to the order of the said King of Great Britain, at Calais, Dieppe, or at 
« Havre de Grace, or remitted by bills of exchange to London, at the 
" peril and risk of the said Most Christian King ; and the other half in the 
v same manner, three months after. And farther, the said Most 
" Christian King binds himself to assist his Britannic Majesty with troops, 
« to the number of six thousand infantry, if necessary ; and even to raise 
" and maintain them, at his own cost and expence, as long as the said 
" King of Great Britain shall judge them to be necessary to him for the 
" execution of his design. And the said troops shall be transported by the 
" ships of the King of Great Britain, to such places and ports as he shall 
" judge most fit for the good of his service -, and from the day of their 
" embarkation shall be paid, as before said, by his Most Christian 
" Majesty, and shall obey the orders of the said King of Great Britain. 
" The time of the said declaration of Catholicism is entirely referred to 
" the choice of the said King of Great Britain." 



MR. fox's historical work. 49 

power, relating to the above-mentioned rights or pre- section 
tension, without their mutual consent. 



5. — Both Kings, having reasons sufficient to justify 
the resolution they have taken to lower the pride of 
the States General, who have shewn so much ingrati- 
tude to the founders of their republic, and who have the 
audacity to erect themselves into sovereign arbiters 
and judges of all other potentates, agree to make war 
against them with all their forces by sea and land ; and 
one party shall not make peace without the consent of 
the other. 

6. — The King of France to provide for the whole 
expence of the army, and attack the States by land ; 
the King of England to supply 6000 infantry at his 
charge, and land them where the King of France shall 
think proper. 

7. — The King of Great Britain to carry on the war 
by sea with at least 50 ships of war, and 10 fire ships ; 
the King of France to add 30 ships, the least of 40 
guns, and 10 fire ships, at the expence of the King of 
France, under the command of the Duke of York ; 
his Christian Majesty also to give Charles 3,000,000 
of livres, to enable him the better to support the 
expence of the war, the first payment L. 750,000 to 
be made three months before the declaration of war. 
The King of Great Britain, in case of success, to have 



50 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section t k e i s i an d f Walkeren, I/Ecluse, and Lisle de Cas- 

sante; and the Prince of Orange to be provided for 

by separate articles *. 

8. — Before the two Kings shall declare war, they 
shall endeavour to persuade the Kings of Sweden and 
Denmark, or either of them, to join in the war, or 
oblige them to remain neuter; also to endeavour to 
procure the co-operation of the Electors of Cologne, 
Brandenbourg, the House of Brunswick, - the Duke of 
Newbourg, and the Bishop of Munster; and to per- 
suade the Emperor and King of Spain not to oppose 
the conquest of Holland. 

9. — As soon as the King of Great Britain shall have 
declared himself a Catholic, the King of France shall 
be at liberty to declare war against Holland, in which 
the King of Great Britain shall concur; the King of 
France having regard to the particular circumstances 
and interests of the two Crowns, which on the con- 
clusion of the treaty shall be inseparable. 

10.— If any articles in any treaty, made by the 
Kings of France and England with any other powers, 
are contrary to the articles contained in the present 
treaty, they shall be null and void. 

* « Les dits Seigneurs Rois feront leur possible a ce que le dit Prince 
" trouve ces avantages dans la continuation et fin de cette guerre bien. 
" qu'il sera c'y apres stipule dans des articles a part." 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 51 

11. — That the treaty of commerce now pending section 

shall be concluded as soon as possible between France " 

and England. The ratification of the treaty to be 
signed by the two Kings, and sealed with their private 
seals, as soon as possible. — This article contains the 
following proviso : " Et d'autant qu'il est absolument 
" necessaire pour le bon succes de ce qui est stipule 
" par le present traite de le tenir fort secret, jusques a 
" ce qu'il soit temps de le mettre a execution," &c. 
Signed, 

Arlington, Colbert. 

T. Arundell, 

T. Clifford * 

R. Bellings. 

Then follow copies of the ratifications of the two 
Kings. That of Lewis is attested by Colbert under his 
hand and seal. 

This reference to the treaty establishes beyond all 
controversy, that Mr. Fox's charge -f against the King 
and his ministers, of mutual treachery towards each 
other, is not founded. 

On the subject of the Popish plot there can now Popish P tot. 
hardly be two opinions in the country ; although the 

* Clifford, a man of high character, (an avowed Roman Catholic,) 
was at this time one ot the commissioners of the treasury, much in the 
King's confidence, and in the same year received the Treasurer's staff, 
which he resigned, on conscientious motives, on the passing of the Test Act. 

f Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 24. 
H 2 



531, 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



section believers in it, when the trials took place, and long 
— afterwards, were both numerous and respectable. Re- 
flecting on the fatal effects of the public credulity in 
this instance, what a lesson does it afford to guard our 
minds against giving too ready a belief to stories, 
likely to have currency from popular prejudices ! 

Bui of Exclusion. Concurring with Mr. Fox in the expediency of the 
Bill of Exclusion, it is not necessary to enter into his 
reasoning upon it ; in a great part of which it would be 
difficult to agree with him. 

The events which took place in the next reign 
afforded a strong justification for the conduct of the 
promoters of that measure, whatever the motives of 
some of them might have been. And it was owing to 
the temperate wisdom and moderation of those who 
effected the stronger measure then resorted to, that it 
was accomplished with less loss of blood than in any 
other instance of a similar nature in the history of this 
country, perhaps of the world. One Dutch officer and 
a few privates were all who fell in the contest in 1688, 
if it can be called a contest. 

PecnWy uan,. -^ * s not i nten ded to enter further on the measures of 
£:: i,h the two brothers than is necessary in following Mr. 
Fox's observations upon them : the most important of 
which are the pecuniary transactions with the Court of 
France ; and the consequences of those. Strong sus- 
picions on the subject were entertained, while the 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 53 



SECTION 
II. 



intercourse was going on ; and proof of a treaty in 168 1 

was produced by Mr. Hume ; but there is evidence of ~~~ 

negociations of the sort in Dalrymple, numerous and 

incontrovertible. The profligacy of Charles and of his 

successor was scandalous in the extreme; betraying 

the best interests of their country, and sacrificing their 

own honour for miserable stipends from a foreign 

power, at times when Parliament shewed the readiest 

disposition to furnish them with abundant supplies, as 

well for their own use as for public services. 

The eagerness of Charles to obtain money from Eariofciuen- 

-w-, i (, i r , . don's early parti- 

h ranee seems to nave arisen from the excess ot his dptimb those. 
private expences, and from a desire to have a fund at 
command for corrupt purposes occasionally at home. 
The practice began very soon after the Restoration, - 
under the management of the Earl of Clarendon, whom 
Mr. Fox considers as quite innocent of it. When he 
formed that opinion, he could not have met with the 
reference in Sir John Dalrymple's book to the Cla- 
rendon papers (then about to be printed) to establish 
the fact; because those papers published some years 
ago, clearly prove that the Chancellor and his son were 
the active and sole agents in money transactions with the 
French minister here, at this early period ; and that 
his Lordship was anxious no one else should be let 
into the secret. Mr. Fox's words are : " Clarendon is 
" said to have been privy to the King's receiving 
u money from Lewis the Fourteenth ; but what proofs 
7 



54 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECflON 

II. 



" exist of this charge (for a very heavy charge it is) 
" I know not *" 

The proofs to which Mr. Fox might very easily 
have had access were Lord Clarendon's own papers, 
having the advantage of Sir John Dahymple's 
reference to them. It will be seen in those -f-, 
that after previous communications had taken place, 
in the course of which Lord Clarendon refused a bill 
of L. 10.000 from Monsieur Bastide, he told that 
French minister, so early as April, ]66l, " that Par- 
" liament is in the best possible disposition ; but 
" having many things to settle with them, he wishes to 
" defer saying any thing immediately about money. 
" If that should be inconvenient, would the King 
" (Lewis) lend L. 50,000 for ten or twelve months, 
° when it should be punctually repaid +." Then 
follows some further correspondence, in the course of 
which Bastide tells Clarendon, " that notwithstanding 
" the pressure on the French finances, and the anti- 
" cipations of their revenue, Lewis will advance 
" 1,800,000 or 2,000,000 of livres for two or three 
" years, (equal then to about L. 150,000,) and that he 
" would do more if he could §." In reply to which, 
Lord Clarendon assures Bastide of secrecy ; and tells 
'him that the King takes the assurance of 2,000,000 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 23. 

f Clarendon's State Papers. Supplement to Vol. iii. p. 2. 

$ Ibid. p. 4.. Ibid 12. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 55 

livres, towards the assistance of Portugal, as a suitable section 

instance of kindness *. From which kingdom of Por- 

tugal his Majesty was then about to receive a large sum 
in ready money, as a portion with his Queen ! There 
is indeed a letter from Lord Sandwich -f , mentioning 
when the first instalment of that portion would be paid. 

It is evident that Charles was under no necessity, Liberal ^ms 

... °f Parliament ta 

for any fair purpose, of degrading himself by the cities. 
acceptance of these pecuniary aids from France, which 
is -amply- proved by the large grants cheerfully made to 
him, or intended for him, by Parliament ; particularly 
at the period of the first treaty in 1669. He had not 
therefore the wretched plea of necessity, sometimes 
attempted to be set up as an extenuation in such cases, 
to lessen the odium that must be excited by the 
baseness of the person corrupted $» 

That very large grants were made at that time in 
particular to the Crown, beyond any apparent necessity 
for the high amount of them, has been ascertained by 
a careful examination of the Journals of Parliament,, 
from which extracts on the subject have been made§: 

* Clarendon's State Papers, folio. Supplement to Vol. in. p k 14. 

f Ibid. p. 20. 

t By Carte, in his " Answer to a Bye-Stander," who urges the insuf- 
ficiency of the grants of Parliament. 

§ Which the author extracted, with an intention of inserting in the 
Appendix j but has omitted it, under an impression that it would be very 
little interesting to readers in general.. 



56 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section anc j the overflowing liberality of the Commons is 

_ _ 8 t ron g]y marked in a speech in the House of Lords, 

by Lord Lucas*, in the session when the secret treaty 
with Lewis was going on, in virtue whereof Charles 
was to receive large sums ; the freedom of which speech, 
from a zealous royalist, could have been occasioned 
only by the excessive amount of the grants. His 
Lordship stated the amount of those depending at 
the time at L. 3,000,000 ; a sum appearing to him so 
enormous as to induce him to say, " the Scripture tells 
" us that God Almighty sets bounds unto the ocean ; 
" and sajs unto it, hither shall thy proud waves come, 
" and no further : and so I hope your Lordships, in 
" imitation of the Divinity, will set some bounds, 
" some limits, to this over-liberal humour of the 
" Commons ; and say to them, hither shall your pro- 
" fuseness come, and no further." Which speech, 
having been afterwards printed f, was burnt by the 
hands of the hangman, for the freedom of the pre- 
ceding passage; as there was nothing else in it to 
give offence. 

urge remit- To what an extent this corrupt intercourse of the 

taiices from , l 

^nTtohi?^ 66 ' » ministers with France Mas carried, long 

ministers. 

* He was created a Peer on the Restoration, for the sufferings of his 
family in their persons and fortunes in the Royal cause ; his father having 
been shot, and his estate confiscated, for his adherence to it, after the 
execution of Charles the First. 

f It was published in a volume of Tracts, in folio, in the possession of 
the author, printed in 1693, P a g e 455. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 57 



antecedent to the date of the correspondence published 
by Mr. Fox, exclusively of Lord Clarendon's money 
negociations, and of the treaty of 1669, will be seen by 
the extracts from the correspondence that follows ; — 
from which sort of intercourse with the Court of 
France, neither the ministers of the Crown, nor the 
popular party, were free, (though the latter was 
implicated in a much less degree,) as far as reliance 
may be had on the authority of the French resident 
here. 

In the communications of Colbert to Lewis, it 
appears, from his letter of the 25th of August, 1670, 
that he had offered a pension of 10,000 crowns to Lord 
Arlington ; whose answer was, that he could neither 
take nor refuse it now ; but that, in case of necessity, 
he would ask the protection of Lewis*. On the 28lh 
of the same month, he acquaints Monsieur de Lyonne, 
that Lord Arlington had proposed that the French Court- 
should give a pension to Lady Shrewsbury, in order 
the better to fix the Duke of Buckingham-}-. On the 
2d of October following, Colbert states that Buck- 
ingham had told him, the Spaniards had offered him 
L. 200,000, to bring Charles to their side; and adds, 
" Je crois qu'il n'en est rien; mais je crains que 
" 1'appetit de ces nouveaux commissaires ne soit 

* Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part 1. page 81. f Ibid. 

I 



SECTION 
II. 



£8 OBSERVATIONS 03" 



section <« gran d *» 0a the 16th of that month, and the 3d 

— — f November, he writes that he has given the presents 

to the commissioners of the first treaty; and that 
Charles had ordered them to receive them -j-. On the 



* " I do not believe any tiling of it ; but I am afraid the appetite of 
" these new commissioners is great." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part i. page 8 1 . 

f Ibid. There is an instance, as early as Henry the Eighth's time, 
of an English minister receiving bribes from foreign Princes. In Rymers- 
Fosdera, Vol. xiii. p. 525. will be found an obligation from the minister 
of the Duke of Milan (then prisoner in France) to Cardinal Wolsey, for 
10,000 ducats a year : the first payment to be made when the Duke 
should be relieved from his French troubles, and should be fixed in his 
dominions ; and on the Cardinal promising that there should be an invio- 
lable and perpetual, friendship between Henry the Eighth and the Duke. 
At which time the Cardinal was «eceiving a pension from Charles the 
Fifth, as King of Castile and Leon, of £.3000 Flemish ; and as Emperor, 
of aooo ducats a year, with a sum of 5000 ducats in hand ; and from 
Francis the First, to whom the Duke of Milan was prisoner, a pension of 
12,000 livres. The three last grants will be found in Rymer, Vol. xiii. 
pages 591, 713, and 610. 

Dr. Fiddes, the Cardinal's Biographer, is of opinion he had the King's 
authority for accepting the Pension from the Duke of Milan, as the deed 
ie deposited among other memorial* of public transactions ; but he did 
not consider that it was not so deposited in the reign of Henry the Eighth, 
nor for a very long time after. The other deeds are in the same reposi- 
tory : how or when Sir Robert Cotton acquired them does not appear. 
In another place the Doctor says, « It was computed indeed, that his 
" (the Cardinal's) revenues, with the numerous presents and pensions 
« that he received from abroad, annually exceeded the revenues of the 
" Crown ; though as to the returns made to him from foreign Courts, it 
«*• has been mentioned to his honour, by those who cannot be suspeeted 
« of partiality to him, that he never engaged the King in any alliance but 
" what was for his honour and advantage." Fiddes, p. 107. 

7 



Mfi,. fox's historical work. 59 

1st of January, 1671, he says further, that he had section 
given Lady Shrewsbury 10,000 livres, who appears, in 
a subsequent letter, to have promised she would, on 
receiving her pension, make Buckingham comply with 
Charles in all things. On the 2d of April, 1671, 
Colbert asserts that he had given a present to Lauder- 
dale ; that he is soon to do the same to Buckingham 
and Ashley Cooper ; and that King Charles knew it. 
On the 3d of December, he acquaints his Court that 
Lady Arlington had, in her husband's presence, offered 
to accept the present intended for her husband, adding, 
" Lc mari n'a fait qu'un reproche tres obligeant*." 
In Colbert's letter to Lewis of the llth of April, 16?2, 
the following passage occurs : " Milord Arlington m'a 
" fait une visite expres pour me faire connoitre 
" combien il est penetre des marques d'estime et 
" distinction que yotre Majeste a donne par le 

White, a papist, created Marquis of Abbeville by the Emperor, who 
was James's ambassador at the Hague, received at the same time pensions 
from the Prince of Orange and the French King ; in consequence of 
which he betrayed James to the Prince of Orange, and the Prince of 
Orange to Lewis the Fourteenth. Macpherson's Original Papers, Vol. i. 
p. 268. In modern times, there is an instance related df an European 
Sovereign, who assigned the revenue of a royal domain for the use of the 
leading ministers at another Court, as they were appointed to that situation 
in succession. Zimmerman's Select Views, 8cc. of Frederick the Great, 
Vol. i. chap. 11. 

* « The husband reproached her, but very obligingly.'' Dalrymple, 
Vol. ii. part 1. page St. 

1% 



party 



60 OBSERVATIONS Otf 

section a rrmgnifique present que votre Majeste a fait a 

— ; " Madame Arlington W.f. Other instances occur, later 

in this reign, of large presents made to the ministers 
here, and to one of the King's mistresses f. 

Remittance from 'ph e intrigues of Barillon with the popular party, 

Lewis to some ° i i i ./ ' 

of the popular among whom he states he distributed considerable 

Dartv. O 

sums, began as early as 1677 %, on the occasion of 
Charles giving his niece in marriage to the Prince of" 
Orange, which were then continued till towards the end 
of 1678 §. The sums given in the last-mentioned year 
are detailed in a letter of Barillon's, of the 22d De- 
cember ; in which he states the names of the parties, 
and the sums given to each ||. Respecting which 
Barillon has a correspondence with his Court, impli- 
cating the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Shaftesbury, 
Lord Hollis, and Lord Russell ; but the latter is 
always mentioned as acting on the highest principles 
of honour. The views of all those having been to 
throw difficulties in the way of Charles's projects by the 
aid of France. 

* " My Lord Arlington made me a visit, on purpose to let me know 
" how much he is penetrated with the marks of esteem and distinction 
" which your Majesty has given, by die magnificent present which your 
« Majesty has made to Lady Arlington." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part 1. 
page 82. 

t Ibid - P- 3*8, 319. \ Ibid. p. 129. 

§ Ibid. p. 129 to 141. || Ibid. p. 314. 



MR. fox's historical Work, 6l 

In December 1679, December 1680, and 3d Fe- action 
bruary 1681, Barillon tells Lewis he has resumed his ' "* 

correspondence with the persons in Parliament, who 
he thought might be useful to his Majesty's service 
thereafter; and then mentions those of the popular 
party with whom he is in habits of intercourse, and to 
whom he has given money ; among whom are Lord 
Hollis, Mr. Beber, Mr. Harbord, Mr. Sidney, and 
Mr. Montague 



* 



In receiving pecuniary gratifications from France, JJjJJ 1 ^** 
the ministers could have been influenced only by the tances ~ 
basest motives ; making a sacrifice of the most sacred 
duties that could be imposed on them, in their 
responsible situations, for sordid objects. They could 
not set up the justification on the ground of which 
those who were opposed to the Court would probably 
defend themselves, in accepting money from a foreign 
Prince : that they applied it only to purposes decidedly 
for the interest of their country. Whether that is a 
maintainable one or not, is not in this place a subject 
for inquiry, but may hereafter be considered. The 
profligacy of the monarch, however, in becoming the 
pensioner of France, as it exceeded the others in 
infamy, so it did in its mischievous consequences ; as 
will be evinced by proofs of his adherence to French 

* Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part I. pages 2,55, 280, 294. The transactions- 
with Lord Sunderland and Montague would fill a small volume. 



02 OBSERVATIONS ON 

sec" 01 * interests, and by the conditions he entered into for 
~ —■ French objects generally. 

We shall reserve for separate consideration the 
advances made for enabling the King to govern with- 
out Parliaments, as relating equally to the reign of 
James the Second. 

seniuty of Colbert writes to Monsieur de Lyonne, 20th August, 

Charles to the * ° 

views of 1668 : " II me disoit qu'il se trouvoit quasi le seul dans 

Lewis XIV, L # * 

" son royaurhe qui ait des inclinations pour la France ; 
" que toutes ses sujets etoient beaucoup plus portes 
" pour TEspagne, et qu'il avoit bien des mesures a 
" garder*." 

Mischietous Barillon, on the 12th January, l679> states that 

Charles had told him, " qu'il aimoit mieux dependre 
" de votre Majeste que de son peuple f." On the 
16th of February, 1679, " that Charles told him his 
" reason for making Sunderland his minister was that 
" he had always found him attached to the interests of 
" France.]:." On the 6th of July, 1679, Barillon gives 

* " He (King Charles) told me, that he found himself, as it were, 
" the only person in his kingdom who had inclinations for France ; that 
** all his subjects were more in favour of Spain ; and that he had there- 
«* fore many measures to keep." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part i. page $6. 

f « That he liked better to depend upon your Majesty than on his 
• people." Ibid. p. 210. 

$ Ibid. p. a 10. 



consequences 



MR. VOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 6$ 

Lewis a long account of a conference with Charles, section 

which concludes, " Le fin de ce long discours fut, de * 

" me presser de representer a voire Majeste ce qui se 

" passe ici r et de le conjurer, de sa part^ de vouloir 

" mettre pour toute sa vie TAngleterre dans sa de* 

" pendance*." And when the money treaty was 

depending, at the latter end of that year, the words used 

by Charles were, " Que votre Majeste pouvoit ce- 

" pendant demeurer dans Tetat le plus glorieux, ou 

" aucun Roi ait ete depuis plusieurs siecles, et mettre 

" pour toujours TAngleterre hors de pouvoir de lur 

•f nuiref\" Barillon adding, " Ce Prince (Charles) 

" ensuite ma repete tout ce qui'l m'a dit souvent, des 

" avantages que votre Majeste retirera d'avoir TAngle- 

" terre dans sa dependance pour toujours {."* 



The terms imposed on Charles by Lewis, for the Engagements of 

1 J Charles in con- 

money he assisted him with, shew no great disinterest- *^ <J* e 

edness on the part of the latter. Courtin writes to fromLewis - 



* « The end of this long discourse was to press me to represent to 
u your Majesty what was passing here, and to conjure you, on his part, 
" to incline to put England under your dependance for ever." Dalrymple, 
Vol. it. part I. page 230. 

f " That your Majesty might remain in the most glorious state that 
** any King has been in for many ages ; and put it out of the power of 
u England ever to hurt you." Ibid. p. 237. 

\ " This Prince (Charles) repeated afterwards all that he had so often 
'* said to me, of the advantages which your Majesty might derive from 
«' having England always dependant upon you." Ibid. p. 237. 



£4 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section Lewis the Fourteenth, 21st September, 1676: " II dit 

*=■ " qu'il (Charles) scavoit bien Tengagement dans lequel 

" il etoit de ne traiter avec les Etats Generaux, ni 
" avec aucun Prince sans votre participation et votre 
" consentement. Qu'il m'engagoit sa foy et son hon- 
" neur de me communiquer toutes les articles du 
" traite, et de ne jamais rien signer que votre Majeste 
" n'y consentit *." 

In the treaty- of 27th May, 1678, the conditions on 
which he was to receive 6,000,000 of livres were, that 
he should remain neuter, if the allies should refuse the 
terms of peace which France had offered at Nimeguen; 
that he should recall his troops from Flanders ; and 
that he should disband his army -f. " A condition 
" expresse qu'aussitot apres le deux mois expires, a. 
"compter de ce jourd'hui sa Majeste Britannique 
" rappellera toutes les troupes quelle a en Flandres, 
" a la reserve de 3000 homines,. destines pour Ostende; 
M et a condition aussi que toutes les troupes que sa 
" Majeste Britannique a nouvellement levees, seront 
" licensees aussitot apres Jeur arrivee dans ses 

* « He (Charles) said, that he knew very well the engagement he was 
*« under not to treat with the States General, nor with any Prince, 
« without your participation and your consent. That he engaged his 
« faith and honour to communicate to me all the articles of the treaty, 
« and never to sign any thing your Majesty shall not consent to." Dal- 
rymple, Vol. ii. part i. page 108. 

f Ibid. p. 157. 159. 161. 



MR. fox's HISTORICAL WORK. 65 

" royaumes." Barillon concludes his letter of the 2d section 

October, l679> " Je connois par tout ce que m'a ete 

" dit, que si on etoit d'accorde sur la somme, il ny 

" auroit aucune difficulte sur la reste; c'est a dire 

" qu'on donneroit la carte blanche a votre Majeste sur 

" toutes les choses qu'elle pourroit desirer; et qu'on 

" prendroit ici touts sorts d'engagemens de ne faire 

" aucune traite avec les Princes etrangeres sans son 

" consentiment ; on s'obligeroit meme a entrer dans 

" toutes les interets de votre Majeste, et de favoriser 

" toutes ses desseins *." 

The principal stipulation in the treaty of the 1st of 
April, 1681, was that Charles, on condition of receiving 
a pension of 2,000,000 livres for one year, and of 
500,000 crowns for two years more, should by degrees 
disengage himself from the Spanish alliance, and take 
measures to prevent Parliament from counteracting his 
engagements -f. ' On the 17th of November, 1681, 
iWillon writes a long letter to Lewis, stating serious 
difficulties and dangers, which appeared to Charles 

* " I know by all that has been said to me, that if the sum was agreed 
" upon, there would be no difficulty about the rest ; that is to say, they 
« would give your Majesty a carte blanche upon every thing that you 
" could desire ; and they would enter into all sorts of engagements, not 
" to make any treaties with foreign Princes without your consent; and 
<f even oblige themselves to enter into all your interests, and to favour all 
" your designs." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. page 238. 

f Ibid. p. 301. Appendix, part 1, p. 15. 
K 



6(5 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section an( j hi s m i n i s ters to be insuperable, with respect to 

— Lewis being allowed to possess himself of Luxemburg 

for 1,000,000 livres ; which was offered to be added to 
the pension of the next year. But after much 
haggling, on the 1st of December, he writes, " Apres 
" plusieurs conferences que j'ai eu avec le Roy d'Angle- 
" terre et milord Hyde, les propositions que j'ai faites 
" de la part de votre Majeste ont ete acceptes *." 

«oimccuon with |f an y proof could be wanted, to establish how 

l ranee odious to ^ ■*■ 

die people of odious the French connection must have been to this 

England. 

country generally, we should find it in a letter from 
Monsieur Courtin, of the 28th January, 1677, in 
which he says to Lewis, " Je crois pouvoir repondre a 
. " votre Majeste qu'il n'y a pas un des ses sujets qui 
" lui souhait un plus heureux succes dans touts ses 
" enterprises que ces deux Princes font. Mais il est 
" vrai aussi, qui vous ne pouves conter que sur ces 
" deux amis dans tout TAngleterre f ." 

On all that Mr. Fox says of the arbitrary and op- 
pressive measures during the remainder of this reign, 

* « After many conferences which I have had with the King of 
« England and Lord Hyde, the proposals which I made from your Majesty 
" have been accepted." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. Appendix, part i. page 21. 

f « I can answer for it to your Majesty, that there are none of your 
«« own subjects who wish you better success in all your undertakings than 
" these two Princes do ; but it is also true, that you cannot count upon 
« any friends except these two in all England." Dalrymple, Vol. ii, 
page 116. 5 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 6? 



there appears to be so little ground for any difference 
of opinion, as to render it unnecessary to call the 
public attention to it. 

If any thing can reconcile the mind to a retrospect 
of such debasing conduct in the Monarch of that time, 
it is the reflection on that difference of inclination, as 
well as power, which British Sovereigns, since the 
Revolution, have possessed, in conducting those great 
public measures, with which the executive in every 
government must necessarily be entrusted. 



SECTION 
II. 



k2 



SECTION THE THIRD 



CONTENTS. 



The Re-establishment of the Catholic Religion the primary Object of 
James IT. — Disinclination of Charles II. to professing the Catholic 
Religion. — Early Symptom of the Determination of James II. to 
promote the Establishment of it. — Disposition of the Parliament and the 
Country not to interrupt his Passion for Power, till they took the 
Alarm respecting Religion. — Proceedings of James for the Establishment 
of the Catholic Religion in England, in Scotland, and in Ireland.— 
Proofs of James's Intentions from Barillon's Correspondence. — General 
Observations on the Subject 



SECTION THE THIRD. 



Th 



e concurrence of sentiment, expressed at the section 
conclusion of the last section, unfortunately does not 



Anxiety of James 

continue in the reign of James the Second. Mr. Fox for tbe f es ' ablbU - 

© ment of the 

seems confident that " a connection with France was, Cfttholic religion ' 

" as well in point of time as in importance, the first 

" object of this reign/' So far there is no ground of 

difference : but it will be shewn, that the position laid 

down by him, " that the immediate specific motive to 

" that connection was the same as that of his brother, 

" the desire of rendering himself independent of Par- 

" liament, and absolute, not that of establishing 

" Popery in England, which was considered as a more 

" remote contingency *," is contrary to the clearest 

evidence before us. 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. ioa. 
L 



74 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
III. 



Charles had, in the end of his reign, certainly gone 
on without a Parliament for nearly four years ; and 
(under engagements with Lewis) manifested no dis- 
position to call one, as will be shewn hereafter : but it 
is evident, from the supplies wanted on the accession 
of his brother, very greatly exceeding the largest 
annuity allowed from France, that if he had lived but 
a few months longer, he must have assembled a Par- 
liament. It will be seen indeed, in his money nego- 
ciations with Lewis, that so far from precluding himself 
from ever assembling a Parliament, he frequently 
alluded to the probable necessity of resorting to one, 
notwithstanding the aids from France. It seems, 
therefore, more likely to have been the intention of 
James to make Parliaments subservient to him, than 
to attempt to govern without them. That he was 
eager for power, cannot be doubted ; but it is proved 
by his subsequent conduct, that, in the exercise of that 
power, the wish nearest his heart was the establishment 
of the Catholic religion in this country. For the 
attainment of that point, always prevalent in his mind, 
it is clear that he risked his crown, and lost it. 



Comparative 
indifference of 
Charles in that 
respect. 



We see Charles struggling for power all through his 
reign, whenever opportunities offered : the latter part 
of it was in truth one continued invasion of the rights of 
the people ; but we find no attempt to carry his point by 
the establishment of Popery, except in the instance of 

6 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 73 

the secret treaty with Lewis in 1669, which he had not section 
the courage to act upon, or even to acknowledge, " 
And when James urged him to measures favourable to 
the Catholic religion, his invariable answer was, " he 
" had no desire to go on his travels a second time *." 
James's opinion on this head is indeed expressed in a 
letter from Barilion to Lewis, of the 26th February, 
1685 : " Qu'il croyoit que Dieu n'avoit pas permis 
" que le Roy son frere put faire une profession pub- 
" lique de sa religion, qu'un peu avant sa mort, 
" parcequ'il avoit trop craint de se montrer aux yeux 
" des homines tel qu'il etoit, et que cependant il favoit 
Ci pu faire en diverses rencontres, sans aucun peril -f." 

The correspondence of Monsieur Colbert with his 
master proves to demonstration, that Charles never 
entertained a serious thought of establishing the 
Catholic religion in England, although he frequently 
held out expectations of it, to obtain supplies from 
Lewis; for after frequent mention of his Majesty's 
intentions by that ambassador, when it came to the 

* The measure of dispensing with the tests had been suggested in the 
latter end of his reign by Chief Justice Herbert, and encouraged by 
Jeffries ; but Charles was restrained by his prudence from attempting it. 
Dalrymple, Vol. i. p. 152. 

f " That God had not permitted his brother to make a public pro- 
« fession of his faith till just before his death, because he was too much 
" afraid of manifesting to men what he really was ; and that nevertheless 
" he might have done so, without any danger, on several occasions." 
Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 32. 

l2 



76 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
HI. 



point for him to declare himself, Colbert writer, 25th 
February, 1671 : Charles gave for answer he would 
neither declare his Popery, nor send any one to Rome 
at that time — After which he turned the matter aside 
with levity, by desiring a theologian to be sent from 
Paris, to instruct him in the mysteries of the Catholic 
religion ; but, at the same time, desired his instructor 
might be a good chymist ; and that he might put off 
his conversion till the end of the campaign; in the 
mean time, desiring a treaty with the see of Rome, 
in which the Pope should permit the sacrament to 
be administered in both kinds, which he knew must 
be inadmissible ; and that mass should be said in the 
vulgar tongue *. 



tensions of 
arles of the 
eonsequences of 
hi* brother's zeal 
for the Catholic 
religion. 



In a letter of Barillon, of the 1st of November. 
1677, he tells Lewis that Charles said to him, " It is 
" my brother the Duke of York's conduct that has 
" given rise to all these suspicions : all the jealousy 
" and passion that people have in this country against 
" the prosperities of France, spring from the Duke's 
" declaration of his religion. In the first war of 1667, 
" they looked upon all the conquests that were made 
" in Flanders with indifference, and cared little about 
" them ; but since the Duke of York professed the 



* Colbert's letters of the aist Mareh and the 7th of June, 1672. 
Dalrymple, Vol. ii. page 84. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 77 

" Catholic religion, all England has been in motion, section 

" and apprehensive that I have other designs^ or am 

"taking measures for changing the government and 

" religion of my country. This is the rock against 

" which I must guard myself; and I assure you, I 

" need every thing to enable me to resist the continual 

" efforts of the whole English nation : for, in fine, I 

" am the only one of. my party, except it be my 

" brother." 

How strong an impression there was on the mind of 
Charles, of the danger likely to arise from an attempt 
to introduce the Catholic religion, is still further mani- 
fested in BarillonV letter of 14th October, 3680, 
wherein he says, " I know it from a good quarter, 
" that the King, of England presses the Duke of York 
" strongly to take the Protestant tests ; and that he 
" has declared to him, it is the only means of bringing 
" about his continuance in England, and preventing 
" his utter ruin/' This urgencyon the part of Charles 
derives additional weight from the knowledge he had 
of his brother's violent repugnance to temporizing on 
the point. Lord Dartmouth, in a note on Bishop 
Burnet, statesj " I have- a letter of the Duke's, in 
" which are these words : " What you hint to me in 
" your letter, and what Lord Hallifax in his has more 
" plainly said, and has been pressed by Lord Hyde* 
" concerning my going to church, has mortified me 



accession. 



78 OBSERVATIONS 05T 

section « verv mU cb, since I cannot do it ; for indeed I see 
" nothing but ruin, when such measures are taken as 
" to produce such a message to me, when there was no 
" reason to believe I would comply/' 

Popularity of Every historian who has written on this reign agrees 

James on his ^ O O 

that the King's popularity on his accession, was equal 
to that of any of his predecessors, which is supported 
by authentic records that cannot be mistaken. The 
first acts of his reign, and the manner in which they 
were received by the country, establish the truth of this 
opinion beyond all controversy. 

In his speech to the Privy Council, when they were 
assembled on the death of his brother, he tells them, 
" he shall follow his example *, and most especially in 
" that of his great clemency and tenderness to his 
" people !" which, instead of creating any dread of 
such ati example i^eing followed, was, as Mr. Fox 
truly says, received with unbounded applause by the 
greater part of the nation ; when, on the supplication 
of the Council, he was prevailed with to publish it : 
and even the haughty language he used in his speech 
to the first Parliament, (little less than a menace, Mr. 

* Whose unfeeling disposition and attempts to establish an arbitrary 
power must have been fresh in the recollection of all who heard the 
declaration. This is one of the few instances, however, in which James 
kept his word. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 79 

Fox observes,) suggesting that " if they did not use section 

" him well, he should not meet them often/' was so 

far from being resented, that the most humble and 
hearty thanks of both Houses, for his Majesty's most 
gracious speech and declaration, (voted in the House 
of Commons, nemine contradicente,) were carried up to 
the throne *. 



The breach of the treaty with Spain, extremely That not affected 
dangerous to British interests, and the King's close exertions of naiy 

power, or by 

connection with France, measures likely to be dis- measures in- 
jurious to Briliih 

agreeable to the people in the highest degree, passed interesls - 
almost without notice ; and the exertion of power, in 
collecting, by virtue of his own proclamation, the 
duties which had been granted to his brother for his 
life, was so far from having given any disgust or 
offence, or exciting any resentment on the part of 
the Parliament, that the first proceeding in the House 
of Commons was passing an act (with an expedition 
unexampled in the case of a money bill), to legalize 
that measure without question or difficulty f. To this 
provision large grants were afterwards added. 

* Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. ix. p. 714 and 715. See 
Lord Lonsdale's account of this speech. 

f Parliament met on the 19th May : on the 22d (the first day of 
business), the revenue for life was voted; and the bill to confirm it was 
read the first time in the House of Commons, nemine contradicente, the 23d ; 
and was returned from the Lords, assented to, the 27th of the same month. 
Journals of the House of Commons, Vol.ix. p. 715, 716, and 720. 



80 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section Th e King's popularity was proved, however, not 

merely by the proceedings of the Parliament alone ; 

the sense of the people at large was expressed by 
addresses to him, poured in from all parts of the 
kingdom; many of them so remarkable for servility 
and the grossest adulation, as to deserve every censure 
with which they have been branded. Nor did the 
persecution of the Dissenters, under the authority of 
Jeffries, dn giving whose character Mr. Fox has mani- 
fested great temperance and forbearance, create any 
apparent sensation in the country. 

When we see James's conduct applauded, with 
these instances of severe oppression before us, it must 
somewhat lessen our surprize that no apparent effect 
was produced here by the miseries, cruelties, and per- 
secutions inflicted upon the Scottish nation ; not only 
by acts of power unheard of, (although the accounts of 
some of the cruelties may have been exaggerated,) but 
by laws deliberately enacted in their Parliament of 
unexampled severity * ; in referring to which, Mr. Fox 
has understated their enormity : notwithstanding which, 
if any feelings of indignation and regret were excited 
in the breasts of individuals, at these cruel and de- 
testable proceedings, in a country so near to and so 
much connected with their own, there was no public 

* Scotch acts, i James VII. chap. 31. Do. chap. 13. Do. chap. 8. 
Do. chap. 5. Do. chap. 4. Do. chap. t5. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 81 

manifestation of any such by the English Parliament section' 
or people. ~ "* 

The abuse of power in religious as well as in Religious perse- 

*■ . ° cutioas, 

civil matters has unhappily not been confined, in 
these dominions, to any particular sect or description 
of men ; and in no period of our history can in- 
stances be produced of more intolerance than in that 
of the reigns of the three last of the Stewarts. It must 
be admitted that when power was in the hand of the 
kirk in Scotland, they used it with an unrelenting hand ; 
though not in the murderous manner their opponents 
afterwards did : and the Dissenters, who quitted this 
country under the oppressions of Laud, became 
in New England oppressors, in their turn, most 
cruelly persecuting the Quakers when they arrived 
there; many of whom they imprisoned and put to 
death, on the score of their religion : and when this 
was put a stop to, they transferred their persecution to 
the Anabaptists. The eloquent author of the History 
of the European Settlements in America says, " Iir- 
" short, this people, who in England could not bear 
" being chastised with rods, had no sooner got free- 
" from their fetters, than they scourged their fellow- 
" refugees with scorpions; though the absurdity, as 
" well as injustice, of such a proceeding in them must 
" have stared them in the face/' There is still extant 

M 



82 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section j n the Council Office, an order of the King in council, 



of the 9th September, 1661, reciting that several 
Quakers had been imprisoned and executed ; and that 
it had been represented others were in danger of under- 
going the like ; and directing a stop to be put to all 
such proceedings. This was addressed to all the 
Governors of New England, and of all the colonies 
thereunto belonging; and to all the ministers and 
officers there *. 

£ cattoT' ° f -^ W0U ^ not De eas y to ^ n d> m tne mst0I 7 of any 
religion the country, stronger marks of attachment and support 

strongest motive J ' O 11 

s^eof^owe?" from a people to a Sovereign, than those which were 
manifested in the opening of James's reign, under trials 
of no common nature. What a prospect of success 
was here opened to him, of establishing a j>ower great 
as he could wish ! But with power alone he could not 
be content, except that power should enable him to 
establish the Catholic worship throughout his dominions. 

* See this paper in the Appendix. See also Dr. Douglas's Summary 
Historical and Political of the British Settlements in North America, 
Vol. i. p. 436. A law of Massachusets, in 1656 : ■ None of that cursed 
" set of heretics lately risen up in the world, called Quakers, to be im- 
" ported, under a penalty of £.100. The punishment, banishment ; and 
« not to return on pain of death." Other laws were made for whipping 
the Quakers, and sending them to the house of correction ; for cutting off 
their ears, and burning their tongues with hot irons. Wynne's History 
of the British Empire in America, Vol. i. p. 79, and So. See also 
Neale*s History of New England. 

8 



mr. fox's HISTORICAL WORK. 83 

In the eager pursuit of that object he adopted the section 
following measures, although he must have known 
from experience the dangers to which they exposed 
him. 

In two days after his accession he went publicly to indifference** 

** _ . Parliament about 

mass;, and unnecessarily published that his brother th , e [ ree e * ercise 

J r of that religion 

died a Papist, of which he produced proof. Even b y himself - 
these proceedings do not appear to have created at 
first much concern or jealousy : on the contrary, so 
late as the end of May, the Commons resolved, nemine 
contradicente, " that this House doth acquiesce, 
" entirety rely, and rest wholly satisfied in his Majesty's 
" gracious word, and repeated declarations, to support 
" and defend the religion of the Church of England, 
" as it is now by law established, which is dearer to us 
" than our lives *." James had reason to hope, there- 
fore, that in the exercise of his own religion, even 
publicly and ostentatiously, he would not be disturbed. 
That, however, was not enough for the zeal of 
the Monarch, impelled by the advice of Jesuits, to 
whose guidance he had given himself up, and one of 
Avhose number he selected for his confessor, and made 
a Privy-Councillor. Having found the Parliament 
acquiescent on points, respecting which their feelings 
and opinions, as well as those of the country, were 

* Journals of the House of Commons, VoL ix. p. 731, a. 

m2 



84 ORSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
III. 



likely to be much alive, he thought he might take 
measures of a much more decisive nature. 



Alarm taken at It is on contemplating these measures, and on con- 

his dispensing . 

with the penai sideling the evidence from the French correspondence, 

laws against ° 1 

Papists. that it appears impossible to agree with Mr. Fox, 

who speaking of the determined purpose of James 
for establishing a system of absolute power, at the 
commencement of his reign, says, " To this design 
" we must look for the main spring of all his actions at 
" this period ; for, with regard to the Roman Catholic 
" religion, it is by no means certain that he had yet 
" thought of obtaining for it any thing more than a 
" complete toleration * :" and when it is adverted to, 
how very soon after he expressed to the two Houses 
his determination to dispense with the laws which had 
been made for the security of the Protestant religion, 
desiring " that no exceptions might be taken to hia 
" having given commissions in the army to some 
" officers not qualified according to the late tests jfr,* 
it will appear that his earliest intention, after his ac- 
cession, was to go much further than to obtain merely 
a toleration for his own religion. 

Proceedings of The effect produced by this public declaration to 

the Commons -p. , . 

in consequence rarliament was instantaneous: insensible as both 

of it, 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 78. 

f Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. ix. p. 756, a. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. $5 



Houses had been to all other stretches of authority, 
they took a most serious alarm at this, and in the 
House of Commons, instead of a motion being agreed 
to for considering the speech immediately, in order to 
an Address of Thanks, as had been done in the former 
instance, a future day was appointed for the con- 
sideration of it * ; and although on that day a supply 
was voted, a report was made from the same com- 
mittee of a resolution for a bill to render the militia 
more complete f. Both measures were agreed to 
unanimously by the House; but on the next day, 
upon a question whether the matter of supply should 
have precedency, it was carried in the negative by a 
majority of one; and a resolution was agreed to, 
" That it be an instruction to the Committee of the 
" whole House, that the Committee proceed first in 
* the consideration of that paragraph in his Majesty's 
" speech which next follows that of the supply;" 
which paragraph related to suspending the Test Act J. 
That was on the 13th November:: on the 14th, re- 
solutions for an address were agreed to, nemine contra- 
dicente, "humbly shewing that those officers of the 
" army, who are not qualified for their employments 
'*■ by the acts for preventing dangers which may 
" happen from Popish recusants* cannot by law be 
" capable of their employments;" and entreating* 

* Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. ix. p. 756, a, 
f Ibid, p. 756, ,b. \ Ibid. p. 757, «> , 



SECTION 
HI. 



86 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
III. 



therefore, " that his Majesty would graciously be 
" pleased to give such directions, that no appre- 
f hensions or jealousies may remain in the hearts of 
" his Majesty *s good and faithful subjects *" On the 
]6th, the address was agreed to ; and on the 17th, it 
was presented f ; his Majesty's answer to which was, 
" That his Majesty did not expect such an address 
" from his House of Commons, having so lately re- 
" commended to them a good understanding, &c J. :i 



Parliament 
prorogued. 



The supply, however, went on to a considerable 
extent ; notwithstanding which, on the 20th, the King 
prorogued the Parliament §, submitting to the de- 
privation of an aid to the amount of L. 700,000 and 
upwards, (more than he could hope to receive from 
France for some years,) rather than abide the conse- 
quences of the measures intended to be proposed for 
the protection of the Protestant religion : for on no 
other point was there a symptom of resistance to him ; 
and he never assembled it again during the remainder 
of his reign. 



jamess zcai not This warning; of the sentiments of his people on the 

checked by the . . r * 

proceedings in subject of religion, from a House of Commons which 

Parliament. * " 

had just before shewn so blind a devotion to him, was 
not sufficient to check the zeal of James ; for, after 

* Journals of the Houe of Commons, Vol. ix. p. 757, b. 

f Ibid. p. 758, a. % ftud. p. 759, b. i Ibid. p. 761. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 87 



SECTION 
III. 



the prorogation, he first personally canvassed the 
members of both Houses in possession of places, and 
who were near him ; and then instructed the Judges, 
in March, 1686-7, when going on their circuits, " to lustrations to 

' f ' © © the Judges to 

" feel the pulses of the members ; and gave them J™^?™ 6 ^? 
" general orders, to sound the inclinations of the lheTest > &c - 
" several gentlemen who sat in Parliament *." " In 
" consequence of this examination of the members, 
" a number of vacancies ensued •f" 

These measures of violence and plausible persuasions 
failing of success " to draw the majority of Parliament 
" into the King's own way of thinking, as to the test 
" and penal laws, he cared not to see them assembled 
" at the time seemingly appointed, and therefore 
" further prorogued the Parliament to November fol- 
" lowing." Still, however, bent on carrying his point, 
he, towards the close of the same year, " ordered the And to Lob 

^ .Lieutenants. 

" Lords Lieutenants of most, if not all, of the counties 
" of England to call together their deputies and 
" Justices of the Peace, and ask them these three 
" questions : 1st, If the King should call a Par- 
" liament, and they should be chosen members of it, 
" whether or no they would vote to take away the 
" test and the penal laws ? 2dly, Whether or no they 
" would give their votes for such members as they 
" believed would be for the repeal of the same ? 

* Reresby's Memoirs, p. 136. f Ibid. p. 137. 



88 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
III. 



3clly, Whether or no they would live peaceably, 
and as Christians ought to live, with such as differed 
from them in religion ? Some Lords Lieutenants, 
who refused to comply with this order, were turned 
out to give place to Papists ; and the deputy 
Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace, who did not 
return satisfactory answers, were for the most part 
divested of office *." 



Other violent 
measures of 
James in Eng- 
land for the 
establishment 
of the Catholic 
religion. 



We next find him closeting the Judges, to persuade 
them to declare for his dispensing power in the case of 
Hales; in which he at last succeeded, (except with 
respect to one of them,) by changing part of the 
number, as has been already observed; — authorizing 
the public consecration of Popish Bishops ; — forbidding 
the clergy to preach on controverted points ; — erecting 
an ecclesiastical commission, which had been sup- 
pressed by law in the former reign, in which were 
several Papists ; — suspending the Bishop of London, 
for not silencing Dr. Sharpe, who had in a sermon 
adverted to some controversial positions -j- ; — making a 

* Reresby's Memoirs, p. 143. 

f These circumstances are stated in all our histories. And we have the 
authority of Puffendorff (quoted by Welwood) for Charles, on delivering 
to his brother, at his death, the key of his strong box, advising him 
" not to think upon introducing the Romish religion into England, it 
« being a thing that was both dangerous and impracticable >" which is the 
more remarkable, as in his last moments he went through all the Popish 
ceremonies. The Spanish ambassador, who must have approved of James's 
conduct, if he had seen a prospect of success from it, remonstrated with 
him against it. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 89 



proselyte of one minister *, and removing two others 
because they would not become such-j-; — sending a 
public embassy ostentatiously to Rome, in defiance of 
the law which constitutes the offence in the person 
employed high treason. That embassy J affords the 
stronger proof of James's purpose ; because, in addition 
to the violation of the law, and to the outrage thereby 
occasioned to the opinion and the feelings of his 
subjects, he could not be ignorant that he incurred a 
risk of giving serious offence to Lewis, on whose 
support he chiefly depended for the establishment 
of his power; who was at the time on such terms 
with the Pope, as led very soon after to an open 
breach, by an appeal on the part of the French 
Monarch from the proceedings of his Holiness to a 
General Council. 



* The Earl of Sunderland, who formally abjured in 1687; but did not 
make a public profession of his being a convert till 1688. Barillon'g 
Letter of July 8th, 1688. 

f Lord Rochester and Lord Clarendon, his brothers-in-law. 

X Innocent the Eleventh was so well aware that the indiscreet zeal of 
James was not likely to " reconcile the kingdoms of England, Scotland, 
" and Ireland, to the Holy See," the avowed object of the mission, that 
he received Lord Castlemain with the utmost coldness : in consequence 
whereof, his Lordship intimated an intention of retiring 5 on hearing 
which, his Holiness said, " Well, let him go, and tell him it were fit he 
" should rise early in the morning, that he may rest himself at noon ; 
" for in this country it is dangerous to travel in the heat of the day." 
Welwood. 



SECTION 
III. 



90 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section jsj ot sa ti s fied with going these lengths, James 

~~ "~ pressed forward, bestowing almost all employments on 
Papists : — publishing a proclamation in Scotland for 
liberty of conscience, with a recital that " con- 
" sidering the severe and cruel laws made against 
" Roman Catholics, called Papists ;" which was fol- 
lowed by a similar one in England : — attempting to 
force a Benedictine Monk on the University of Cam- 
bridge, and depriving the Vice-Chancellor for resisting 
it :— commanding the election of a Papist for the 
mastership of Magdalen College in Oxford ; and ap- 
pointing Massay, a Papist, to the deanery of Christ 
Church there * :— directing mass to be celebrated in the 
fleet, which created so great a danger of mutiny, that his 
Majesty thought it necessary to go himself from ship to 
ship, at the Nore, to quiet the officers and seamen ; 
flattering them, and calling them his children ; saying, 
" that he had nothing to do with their religion, and 

* Father Warner's MS. History, quoted by Dr. Gee, in his Animad- 
versions on the Jesuits' Memorial, London, 1690. The King's dispensation 
to Massay, to excuse him from taking the oaths of allegiance and supre- 
macy, or any test or sacrament, or making any declaration or subscription 
respecting religion, or performing or subscribing any other act or acts, in 
conformity to the doctrine, discipline, or liturgy, of the Church of 
England ; and also to absent himself from Church or Chapel, or usual 
Place of Common Prayer, and to forbear reading the same-, and then 
authorizing the admission and installation of him, notwithstanding he may- 
be a convict recusant, is printed at length in the Appendix to the State 
Papers of Henry Earl of Clarendon, Vol. ii. p. 278. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 91 

" that he granted liberty of conscience to all ;" which section 
he was obliged to give proof of, by sending the priests 
on shore * : — cashiering Protestant officers, and giving 
their commissions to Papists, in open defiance of the 
Test Act ; under the force of which he had been 
obliged to lay down his office of High Admiral in his 
brother's reign, when he had not publicly owned his 
conversion to the Church of Rome : — receiving publicly 
the Pope's nuncio at Windsor, and disgracing the 
Duke of Somerset, then Lord Chamberlain* and one of 
the most powerful Peers, because he would not intro- 
duce him formally ; an act that would in law have 
been criminal : — admitting his confessor, a Jesuit, into 
the Privy Council : — issuing a second proclamation for 
liberty of conscience, and ordering it to be read in all 
churches ; which several of the Bishops refusing to 
send to the clergy, were for that offence committed to 
the Tower, and prosecuted in the Court of King's 
Bench; where, on a trial at bar, they were acquitted, 
with rejoicing almost universal on the part of the 
public. The proceedings here enumerated gradually 
worked up the minds of the people to enthusiasm ; 
but it was the last which, more than any other, 
opened the way for the reception of the Prince of 
Orange. 

* Reresby, p. 153. 
N 2 



92 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section j n Scotland, the evidence of the object which James 

"*"" ' was most intent upon is also reasonably strong; for, 
Scotland for the although he knew that, in that part of his dominions, 

attainment of the ° * 

same object. religious opinions had great influence on the conduct 
of the people, the coronation for that country was 
declined by him, according to Mr. Laing, " as re- 
" pugnant to the religion he proposed to introduce." 
Endeavours were there used to obtain a repeal of the 
penal laws and the test, from tenderness to the Roman 
Catholics; which attempts to introduce Popery, Mr. 
Laing says, " were too direct and too gross to succeed." 
The failure in Parliament, however, did not prevent 
a declaration of indulgence being issued by the 
Privy Council : a measure equally hateful to the 
Episcopalians and Presbyterians ; the former of whom 
had shewn a ready disposition to contribute to in- 
vesting the King with absolute power: but they were 
filled with rage, when they found that was to be 
exercised for the establishment of Popery *. And 
the feelings of both were deeply wounded, by a 
Popish chapel having been fitted up in the ancient 
palace of their Kings ; with appointments for a regular 



* The draft of the act, as rendered palatable by the Lords of Articles, 
and the King's letters (on failure of that measure) for dispensing with 
the penal laws against the Catholics, are inserted in Crookshank's History 
of the Church of Scotland, Vol. ii. p. 454, and 456. 



MR. fox's historical work. 93 

Popish seminary there * ; which were rifled and de- section 
molished by the populace in 1688 «f\ 

But it is to Ireland we must look for still more And in Ireland. 
positive proofs of James's bigotry, and of what his 
primary object was. The facts are taken from Arch- 
bishop King's State of the Protestants of Ireland 
under King James's Government. The Archbishop 
was himself a witness of them ; having continued his 
residence there during that reign, and while James was 
in Ireland, after the Revolution. They are also re- 
stated by Welwood, who lived at the time, on the 
Archbishop's authority. Lord Tyrconnel J, a known 
Papist, remarkable for his bigotry and for his hatred 
to the Protestants, was appointed to the chief govern- 
ment, at the intreaty of the Roman Catholic clergy §, 



* Crookshank's History of the Church of Scotland, Vol. ii. p. 460, 471 . 

f Ibid. p. 490. 

$ For an account of this person and his family, see the Continuation 
of the Life of Henry Lord Clarendon, p. 360. He was, before the 
Restoration, known as Dick Talbot ; and at last created by James the 
Second first Earl, and then Duke, of Tyrconnel. 

§ The Earl of Clarendon was removed to make room for Lord Tyr- 
connel. For instances of the violence of Lord Tyrconnel, as displeasing 
to the right-judging Catholics, as to the Protestants, see Henry Lord 
Clarendon's State Papers, Vol. i. p. 101, 102. 106. 281. 293. 306. 314. 
317. 322. 367. 370. 375. 440. 451. Do. Letters, Vol. ii. p. 37. 43, 44. 
particularly Vol. i. p. 295, as to putting Roman Catholics into Corpora- 
tions, and making them Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace. Lord 
Clarendon mentions the removal of three Judges in 1686, Vol. i. p. J £0 ; 



94 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section w h promised to receive his " Lordship with such 

1 ■ " acclamations as the long captived Israelites did their 

" redeemer Mordecai *." The Judges, who had been 
complained of in the former reign for their partiality to 
the Papists, were now not thought zealous enough in 
their cause; and were removed to make room for 
others, who were themselves Papists f. 

The Great Seal, which had been taken from the 
Primate in 1685-6, to be given to Sir Charles Porter, 
(against the wish of Lord Clarendon +, the Lord 
Lieutenant,) as a person more likely to promote 
James's views, was in 1686-7 taken from him, and put 
into the hands of Sir Alexander Fitton, who had been 
twice convicted of forgery and fined by the House of 
Lords, and was afterwards released from a gaol, where 
he had been confined some years, to become the 
keeper of his Majesty's conscience § ; his merit being 
his conversion to Popery. The Chief Baron, who had 
a mortal hatred to the Protestants, was a man of the 
most exceptionable character || ; and some of the other 

and remarks on the order to dispense with the new Judges taking the 
oaths of supremacy, ibid, j and the three new ones being sworn of the 
Privy Council, 296. 

* The Letter is printed in Archbishop King's Appendix, p. 43. 

f Page 68. 

% Henry Lord Clarendon's State Papers, Vol. i. p. 100 to 105. 17a. 
Vol. ii. Diary, p. 6. 

$ Archbishop King, p. 29, and 66. ]| Ibid. p. 71. 



mr. fox's historical work. 95 

Judges were of the same stamp; and so many Papists section 

were put into the Privy Council, as to constitute them ~ ^ 

a majority *. Several charters were dissolved, for the 

purpose of filling the corporations with Papists. An 

act of Parliament was passed, providing that tythes 

due by Papists should be paid to their own priests; 

and the Popish clergy were made capable of enjoying 

the Protestant tythes -f . And Bishoprics and Deaneries 

were kept vacant, the revenues of which were paid 

into the Exchequer, and afterwards disposed of to 

titular Bishops and priests J. 

Most of these proceedings were had whilst James 
was making the strongest professions here of his de- 
termined purpose to maintain the Protestant cause. 
But he proceeded to still greater lengths, when he 
found himself at liberty to pursue his own course, 
during his residence in Ireland. All Protestants, with- 
out distinction of age or sex, were by proclamation, 
26th July, 1689, confined to their cities and parishes, 

* Archbishop King, p. 87. f Ibid. p. 324. 

% Ibid. p. 220. Lord Clarendon also, when he was Lord Lieutenant, 
in a letter to his brother, the Earl of Rochester, Lord Treasurer, tells 
him, that the money directed by the King's letter to be paid to the Roman 
Catholic Bishops (winch he had communicated to the Roman Catholic 
Primate) should, pursuant to the King's command, be paid out of the 
revenues of the vacant Bishoprics, in the manner directed. Lord Henry 
Clarendon's State Papers, Vol. i. p. 460, 461. And in another letter, 
he mentions an annual payment of £.2190 to the Roman Catholic 
Primate, to be distributed, VqI, n- p- 66. 



g6 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section without any reason assigned, or any limitation fixed * : 

* and all possible means were adopted for depriving the 

Protestants of their liberties, and despoiling them of 
their property, in order to throw it into the hands of 
Papists -f. Not content with these proceedings against 
the Protestants, James at last took away from them, 
by an act of Parliament, the jurisdiction of their own 
church J; and, to complete the whole, an Act of 
Attainder was passed, which at once subjected to the 
pains and penalties of high treason, two Archbishops, 
one Duke, sixty-three temporal Lords, twenty-two 
Ladies, seven Bishops, eighty-three clergymen, two 
thousand one hundred and eighty-two Baronets, 
Knights, Esquires, and gentlemen : all of whom, 
Protestants, were declared traitors, without having been 
heard ; and were adjudged to suffer death, as guilty 
of high treason. 

There is certainly no instance of such a proceeding 
in the history of the worst times in this country : for, 
while the bill was depending, the members for the 
several places returned the names of all such Protestant 
gentlemen as lived in the county or borough for which 
they served, or who resided near them §. And when 
the act was presented to the Xing for his assent, the 
Speaker of the House of Commons told him, " That 

* Archbishop King, p. 109. f Ibid. p. 101 to 187. 

J Ibid. p. 228. § Ibid. p. 204. 



MR. fOX's HISTORICAL WORK. £)? 



" many of those named in it were attainted upon such 
" evidence as satisfied the House ; the remainder 
" upon common fame */' And to render the measure 
complete, the act was carefully locked up, and not 
allowed to be seen by any Protestant, nor indeed was 
it accessible to any one, till four months after the time 
had elapsed for any of the persons to surrender f. 

It was at this precise period that James sent a 
declaration into England, dated May 8th, l689> where 
it was distributed by his friends, in which he states, 
" that his Protestant subjects, their religion, privileges, 
" and properties, were his especial care since he came 
" into Ireland J." In the following year, proclama^ 
tions were published in Dublin against the Protestants : 
the first, May 3d, 1690, calling on all of them to 



* Archbishop King, p. 207. ' 

f Ibid. p. 208, &c. The act is printed at length in Archbishop 
King's Appendix, with the names of all the persons attainted, p. 1. It 
would have been much more satisfactory to have referred to the original 
act and proceedings of Parliament ; but after the most diligent search in 
the several repositories in Dublin, they are not to be found. A very 
learned and highly respectable clergyman, remarkably conversant on 
subjects of this sort, states that the books and proceedings of James's 
Parliament of 1689 were torn, on the arrival of King William's army, 
and delivered to the common hangman to be publicly burnt. There is, 
however, extant a printed collection of the acts of that sci disant Parlia- 
ment, among which is this Act of Attainder j and it will also be found in 
$orne other publications. 
X Archbishop King, p. 17. 

O 



SECTION 
III. 



98 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
HI. 



register their names in a book ; declaring all such, who 
should not do so, to be spies and enemies : — and the 
second, forbidding more than five Protestants to meet 
together, under pain of death ; explained to extend to 
ehurches *. 



Eridetice of 
James's purpose 
from the cor- 
respondence of 
Barillon. 



The proof that James's principal object was the firm 
establishment of his own religion throughout his do- 
minions, might safely be rested on the evidence, thus 
produced, of his proceedings at home : but as Mr. Fox 
founds the contrary opinion on the correspondence of 
Barillon, which he has printed ; it becomes necessary 
to refer to such passages in that correspondence as 
relate to this part of the subject. Barillon tells Lewis, 
so early as in his first interview with James after his 
accession, 19th February, 1685, the day after the death 
of his brother : " II me dit que sans son appui et sa 
" protection, il ne pouvoit rien entreprendre de ce 
** qu'il avoit dans~ i'esprit en faveur des Catholiques ; 
" qu'il savoit assez, qu'il ne seroit jamais en suret6 que 
" la liberte de conscience pour eux ne fut entitlement 
" etablie en Angleterre; que c'est a cela a quoi i) 
* travaiHera avec un entiere appliquation des qu'il 
" verra de la possibility f." 



* Appendix to Archbishop King, p. 122, and 123. No. 30, and 3.1. 

f " He told me, that without your support and protection he could 
«* undertake nothing of what he designed in favour of the Catholics ; 
" that he knew he should never be in safety till a liberty of conscience 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. pO 

On the 5th of March, Barillon, after alluding to *&&# 
suspicions of an intention to destroy the Protestant "* 
religion, and to tolerate only the Catholic, says, 
" C'est un projet si difficile dans son execution, pour 
" ne pas dire impossible, que les gens senses ne l'ap- 
" prehendent pas : mais le peuple est susceptible de 
" toutes sortes d'impressions, et on leur fait croire 
" qu'ils verront la persecution contre les Protestants 
" exercee avec autant de rigueur que du temps de la 
" Reyne Marie, lorsque l'Angleterre etoit encore plus 
" remplie de Catholiques que de Protestans *." 

But in the same letter, after saying the King and 
his ministers will use their utmost endeavours to dissi- 
pate their fears, and to impress on the public mind 
that it is the King's intention to govern according to 
law, he adds, " On demeure presque d'accord de part 
" et d'autre, que les loix penales contre les Catholiques 
" seront abolies et que Ton ne poursuivra plus ceux 

** should be established firmly in their favour in England ; that it was to 
" this he meant wholly to apply himself, as soon as he should see a, 
" possibility of success." Fox's Appendix, p. 19. Dalrymple, vol. ii. 
part 1. page 10 1. 

* " It is a project so difficult in the execution, not to say impossible, 
** that intelligent per6ons-have no apprehensions of it ; but the people arc 
" capable of receiving all sorts of impressions } and they are made to 
" believe that they will see the Protestants persecuted with the same 
«* severity as in the time of Queen Mary, when there were as many 
*' Catholics as Protestants in England." Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 44. 
o2 



100 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section a q u ^ se contenteront de l'exercise de la religion Ca- 
~~~~* " " tholique dans le dedans de leur maison ; on ne fait 
" pas merae de doute que la seance du Parlement ne 
" soit rendue aux Seigneurs Catholiques *." 

We have, in addition to these proofs, the authority 
of Lewis himself, for his having explained that it was 
for the establishment of the Catholic religion alone 
that he gave the largest sums to James. On the 24th 
of April, 1685, on sending two millions of livres to 
Barillon, he writes, " Je consens neanmoins que vous 
" fassiez payer jusqu'4 quatre cens mille livres pour 
$* fournir aux gratifications, que le Roi jugera a-propos 
" de faire pendant cette Asscmblee ; et a l'egard de 
" seize cens mille livres restans, vous ne vous en 
" d6saisirez qu'en cas que la conduite du Parlement 
" soit asses mauvaise, pour obliger le Roi a le casser ; 
" ou qu'il trouve d J ailleurs de si fortes oppositions a 
" l'etablissement d'un libre exercise de la religion 
" Catholique, qu'il soit oblige d'employer ses armes 
" contre ses propres sujets f." 

* " It is generally agreed, that the penal laws against the Catholics 
*« will be repealed ; and that no interruption wli. be given to persons, in 
" the exercise of the Catholic religion in their own houses ; and it is not 
** doubted but that the Catholic Peers will be restored to their seats in the 
" House of Lords." Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 45. 

f " I consent, nevertheless, that you shall be at liberty to pay to the 
« extent of 400,000 livres, for the gratifications that the King shall think 
" it fit to give during the sitting of ParJiament ; and with respect to the 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. ,101 



On the 30th of April, Barillon says, " Cependant, 
" il est, selon mon opinion tres necessaire que V. M. 
" ne suspende pas les pavements, et qu'elle me per- 
" mette de fournir au Roy d'Angleterre ce que je 
? s croirai devoir donner sur les quinze cens milles livres 
" qui resteront apres le parfait payement de Tancien 
" subside ; j'oze repondre que cet argent aura un aussi 
" bon effet qu'aucun que V. M. ait pu donner. 
" C'est un coup decisif pour ce que V. M. a d'avantage 
" k coeur, c'est-a-dire, pour l'etablissement d'un ex- 
" ercice libre en faveur de la religion Catholique */' 

On the 9th of May, Lewis replies to Barillon, 
" Mais, pour vous eclaircir encore plus particuliere- 
" ment des mes intentions ; a fin que vous ne puissiez 
" point vous eloigner, je suis bien aise de vous repeter ; 

*' i,6oo,ooo remaining, you are not to part with them but in the event 
" of the conduct of Parliament being so perverse, as to compel the King 
" to put an end to the session j or that he shall find so strong an opposi- 
" tion to the establishment of a free exercise of the Catholic religion, as to 
" compel him to employ his arms against his own subjects." Mr. Fox's 
Appendix, p. Ixiii. 

* " In the mean time it is, in my opinion, very necessary your Majesty 
" should not suspend the payments ; and that I should be permitted to 
" give to England as much as shall appear to be proper out of what shall 
" remain of the 1,500,000 livres, after completing the payment of the 
" ancient subsidy. I will be responsible for it, that this money will 
" produce as good an effect as any that can be bestowed. It would be 
" decisive in obtaining what your Majesty has most at heart, the establish- 
" ment of a free exercise of the Catholic religion." Mr. Fox's Appendix, 
p. lxx. 



SECTION 
III. 



102 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
111. 



** qu'il est vrai que le principal motif, ou, pour mieux 
" dire, le seul et unique, qui m'oblige de vous faire 
" remettre avec tant de diligence une sorame aussi 
" considerable qu'est celle de deux millions, pour en 
" secourir le Roi d'Angleterre dans ses plus pressants 
" besoins *, c'est le zele que j'ai pour l'augmentation 
" de notre religion, seconde de mon estime et de mon 
" affection pour le dit Roi : — il doit etre aussi d'autant 
" plus persuade de cette verite, que je ne stipule 
" aucunes conditions de lui, et que l'intention que 
" j'ai de maintenir la paix dans toute l'Europe ne me 
" laisse pas lieu de croire, que j'y puisse trouver assez 
" d'obstacles pour avoir besoin d'aucune assistance 
" etrangere ; j'ai assez bonne opinion aussi de la fer- 
" mete du Roi d'Angleterre dans la profession qu'il 
" fait de la religion Catholique, pour etre bien per- 
" suade qu'il employera toute son autorite a en etablir 
" le libre 6xercice, sans qu'il soit necessaire de Yy 
" exciter par une distribution d'argent prematuree, et 
" qui ne doit pas etre employe si le Parlement lui 
" accorde le meme revenu dont jouissoit le feu Roi 
" d'Angleterre, et consent aussi a l'establissement du 
* libre exercice de notre religion -f-." And adds after- 

* At this time the Parliament was loading him with gTants. 

" f But to possess you more particularly with what my intentions are, 
« so as to prevent your mistaking them, I repeat to you that it is true 
" that the principal, indeed the only, motive which has induced me to 
" remit to you, with so much promptitude, so large a sum as two 



Mr. fox's historical work, 103 

wards in the same letter : " Et je veux que vous section 

" gardiez ces fonds, pour n'en disposer qu'en cas que ' 

" le Roi d'Angleterre ne ^aouvant pas obtenir de son 

" Parlement la continuation des memes revenus 

" qu'avoit le feu Roi son frere, ou rencontrant trop 

•* d'obstacles k l'etablissement de la religion Ca- 

" tholique, se trouve oblige de le separer, et d'employer 

" son autorit6 et ses forces pour require ses sujets a la 

" raison ; je consens, en ce cas, que vous l'assistiez 

" pour lors de toute la somme de quinze cens trente 

" mille livres, soit en un ou plusieurs pavements, ainsi 

** que vous le jugerez a-propos, et que vous m'en 

** donniez avis dans le meme terns par un courier 

" expres*." 

" millions, to assist the King on the most pressing occasions, is the 
*' zeal by which I am actuated for the increase of our religion y aided by my 
" esteem and affection for him. He ought to be the more firmly per- 
** suaded of this truth, as I exact no conditions from him ; and as my 
" intention to maintain peace throughout Europe leaves me no' reagon* 
" to apprehend I shall want any foreign assistance. And I have likewise 
" a sufficient confidence in the firmness of the King of England, in the 
" profession of the Catholic religion, to be persuaded that he will exert all 
•» his authority to establish the free exercise of it, without its being 
" necessary to have recourse to a premature distribution of money ; and 
" which should not be used, if the Parliament shall grant to the King his 
" late brother's revenue, and shall also consent to the establishment of 
•f the free exercise of our religion." 

* " And I desire you will keep these funds, which are not to be dis- 
" posed of, unless the King of England shall not be able to obtain from 
*« his Parliament a continuation of the revenue of his late brother ; or 
" shall find so strong a resistance to the establishment of the Catholic 



104' OBSERVATIONS ON 

section On the 15th of June following, Lewis again says to 

' ~ Barillon, " II ne reste done plus, tant pour ma satis- 

" faction que pour la sienne (Jaques) qu'a obtenir le 

" revocation des loix penal es en faveur des Catho- 

" liques, et le libre exercice de notre religion dans 

" tous ses etats, et vous savez que cest aussi le prin- 

" cipal motif qui ma porte a vous faire remettre avec 

" tant de diligence des sommes si considerables. 

" Mais comme ce Prince ne juge pas a-propos de 

" tenter, quant a-present, cette demande, je ne veux 

" pas aussi le presser de se mettre au hazard d'un 

" refus dans une matiere si importante, et pour le 

" succes de la quelle il est de sa prudence de prendre 

" des mesures bien justes. Je croirois neanmoins qu'a 

" present que le Parlement paroit dispose, a ne lui 

" rien refuser, soit que la seule affection le fasse agir, 

" ou que la crainte y soit melee, ce Prince feroit tres 

" sagement d'en profiter et d en tirer ce qu'il desire en 

" faveur de notre religion, sans leur donner le temps 

" de se reconnoitre, et de concerter avec ceux qui 

" sont les plus annimes contre notre religion, ce 
" qu'ils auront a faire pour empecher le progres ; et si 

" le Roi prenoit ce parti la, et qu'il trouviit quelque 

" religion, as shall oblige him to put an end to the session ; and to 
" exercise his authority, and to resort to arms, to bring his subjects to 
" reason. In which case, I consent to your assisting him with the whole 
u sum of 1,530,000 livres, either in one or in several payments, as you 
" shall judge proper, advising me thereof by an express courier." Mr. 
Fox's Appendix, p. lxxi, and Ixxii. 
2 



MR. FOXS HISTORICAL WORK. 105 

*' obstacle qu'il ne put vaincre qu'avec mon assist- section 

" ance, je la lui accorderois volontiers, aussit6t que " 

" vous m'auriez informe de ses besoins. Mais jusqu'a ce 

" qu'il prenne cette resolution, et qu'il Fexecute, iiion 

*' intention n'est pas de rten changer aux ordres que 

" je vous ai donnes ; et je veux que vous gardiez les 

y fonds que je vous ai fait remettre, pour n'en dis- 

" poser que lorsque je le jugerai necessaire *." 

' Lewis bad given Barillon a caution about the 
disposal of the money in his hands, in a letter of the 

* "It remains, therefore, only for my satisfaction, as well as his, 
" (James's,) that the revocation of the penal laws should be obtained in 
" favour of the Catholics, and the free exercise of our religion in all his 
(< dominions ; and you know that the attainment of that object has been. 
" my inducement for remitting such large sums so expeditiously. But as 
" this Prince does not think it advisable to make the attempt at present, 
" I would not urge him to risk a refusal in a matter of so much import- 
" ance, and for the success of which he will use his discretion in taking 
" proper measures. I think, nevertheless, that the Parliament appears, 
« to be disposed not to refuse him anything; whether under the in- 
" fluence of affection or fear, he will do wisely to avail himself of that 
" disposition, and to derive from it what he wishes in favour of our 
" religion, without allowing them time for reflection ; and to learn from 
« those who are most adverse to our religion, what they would do to 
" hinder the progress of it. If the King shall take that course ; and he 
" shall meet with any difficulty he cannot surmount without my assist- 
" ance, I will cheerfully give it to him, as soon as you shall apprize me 
" of the necessity for it. But till he adopts that resolution, and shall 
" carry it into effect, my intention is not to change the orders I have 
" given you; and I desire you will keep the funds I remitted to you, 
" which you are not to dispose of till I shall judge it necessary." Mr. 
Fox's Appendix, p. xcix. 

P 



106 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section 25th of May*; but on the 13th July, he is more 
' peremptory : " Comme je vois avec plaisir que le 

" Parlement d'Angleterre fournit amplement a tous les 
" besoins du Roi de la Grande Bretagne, et que ce 
" Prince ne trouvera pas m&me d'obstacle au reta- 
" blissement de la religion Catholique, lorsqu'il voudra 
N Tentreprendre, apres qu'il aura acheve de dissiper le 
" peu qui reste de revokes, j'ai juge a-propos de faire 
" revenir les fonds que je vous avois fait remettre pour 
" appuyer, en cas de besoin, les desseins que ce 
u Prince voudroit former en faveur de nqtre religion. 
" Ainsi mon intention est que, si cet argent est dans 
" votre maison, vous le fassiez remettre a plusieurs fois 
" entre les mains des banquiers, avec le meme secret 
" qu'ils Ty ont porte \ et s'il se peut, d'une maniere en- 
" core plus impenetrable, voulant que, soit qu'il soit 
" demeure entre les mains des dits banquiers ou chez 
" vous, il soit renvoye par les memes voies, et remis 
" en mon epargne, jusqu'a, ce que je juge necessaire 
" de rem ploy er en faveur du Roi d'Angleterre -f\" 



* Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. lxxxvii. 

f " As I see with pleasure that the Parliament of England amply sup- 
" plies all the wants of the King, and that he will find no obstacle even to 
« the re-establishment of the Catholic religion, when he shall undertake 
« it, after he shall have got rid of the few remaining persons who have 
« revolted } I think it proper to recall the funds, which I had remitted to 
« support the measures of that Prince in favour of our religion, in case 
« of necessity. It is therefore my intention, if you have the money in 
« your house, that you shall replace it in the hands of the bankers, with the 



i 



MR. POX S HISTORICAL WORK. 107 

With these directions it appears, by a letter from section 
Barillon three days afterwards (July 8th), that Lord * 

Rochester, then treasurer, was much dissatisfied * ; and 
James and Lord Sunderland not less so: the King 
urging to him strongly the exertions he was making for 
the establishment of the Catholic religion ; which 
could not succeed without the aid of Lewis ; and Lord 
Sunderland pressing the same on his consideration: 
" Milord Sunderland est entre fort avant avec moi, et 
^ m'a paru inform6 a fonds de ce qui s'est passe entre 
** le Roi d'Angleterre et moi, sur la sujet de la religion 
" Catholique. Ce ministre m'a dit, " Je ne sais pas 
" si on voit en France les choses comme elles sont ici ; 
" mais je defie ceux qui les voyent de pres de ne pas 
" connoitre que le Roi mon maitre n'a rien dans le 
" cceur si avant que Ten vie d'etablir la religion Ca- 
" tholique; qu'il ne peut m&me, selon le bon sens et 
" la droite raison, avoir d'autre but, que sans cela il 
" ne sera jamais en surete, et sera toujours expose au 
" zele indiscret de ceux qui echaufferont les peuples 
" contre la Catholicity, tant qu'elle ne sera pas plus 
" pleinement etabli : II y a une autre chose certaine, 

** same secrecy with which you received it ; and, if possible, in a manner 
" still more cautiously guarded : it being my will that whether it is in the 
" hands of the bankers, or in yours, it should be remitted by the same 
" methods, and placed in my treasury, till I shall judge it to be necessary 
" to employ it for the service of the King of England." Mr. Fox's 
Appendix, p. 102. 

* Ibid. . ; 

P 2 



108 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
III. 



" c'est ce que ce plan la ne peut reussir que par un 
" concert et une liaison etroite avec le Roi votre 
" maitre ; c'est un projet qui ne peut convenir qu'a 
" lui, ni reussir que par lui. Toutes les autres puis- 
" sances s'y opposeront ouvertement, ou le traverseront 
" sous main. On sait bien que cela ne convient point 
" au Prince d'Orange ; mais il ne sera pas en etat de 
" l'empecher si on veut se conduire en France com me 
" il est necessaire, c'est-a-dire, menager Tamitie du 
" Roi d'Angleterre, et le soutenir dans son projet. 
" Je vois clairement l'apprehension que beaucoup de 
" gens ont d'une liaison avec la France, et les efforts 
*• qu'on fait pour I'affoiblir ; mais cela ne sera au pou- 
" voir de personne, si on n'en a pas envie en France ; 
" c'est sur quoi il faut que vous vous expliquiez net- 
" tement que vous fassiez connoitre que le Roi voire 
" maitre veut aider de bonne foi le Roi d'Angleterre 
" a etablir fermement ici la religion Catholi(me *." 

* " Lord Sunderland has entered very far into the business with me ; 
" and appears to be thoroughly informed of what has passed between the 
»• King of England and myself, on the subject of the Catholic religion. 
" This minister said to me, " I do not know if matters are viewed in 
«« France as they are here ; but I defy those who see them near not to 
" know that the King my Master has nothing so much at heart as to 
" establish the Catholic religion ; that he cannot consistently with good 
" sense, or right reason, have any other object ; without which he never 
" can be in safety, but must always be exposed to the consequences of 
« the indiscreet zeal of those who will inflame the people against the 
" Catholic religion, /;'// it shall be completely established. Another cer- 
" tainty is, that this plan cannot succeed but by a strict concert and 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 109 

On the 26th of July .Lewis writes to Barillon : section: 

" Comme je vois par votre derniere que vous insistez * 

" encore a ce que je vous laisse un fonds pour les 
" besoins. qui peuvent survenir a la cour oii vous etes, 
" je ne puis m'empeeher de vous dire que j'ai ete ex- 
" tr£mement surpris de voir qu'apres vous avoir in- 
" struit de mes intentions par plusieurs de mes 
" depeches, vous n'ayez pas entierement desabuse. les 
" ministres de la cour ou vous etes de Tesperance 
" qu'ils ont concue avec si peu de raison,, que, dans le 
" temps que le Roy leur maitre jouit d'un plus grand 
" revenu qu'aucun de ses predecesseurs, je voudrois 
" encore epuiser mon epargne, et sacrifier, sans n^ces- 
" sit6, le fonds que je ne m'etois 6te a moi-me^me que 
" pour donner au dit Roy des preuves plus extra- 
" ordinaires de mon amitie, au cas que le mauvais 
u etat de ces affaires Teut oblige d'y avoir recours : 
Kt elles sont, par la grace de Dieu, mainteuant au point 

" union with the King your Master. It is a project which can be con- 
" certed only with him j and can succeed but through him : all the other 
«« powers will either oppose it openly, or counteract it secretly. It is 
" well known,, it cannot be acceptable to the Prince of Orange ; but he- 
" will not be in a condition to hinder it, if they will conduct themselves 
" in France as they should do ; that is to say, if they manage the King of 
" England's friendship, and support him in his plan. I see clearly the 
" apprehension many people have of an alliance with France, and the 
" efforts they make to weaken it ; but that will not be in the power of 
" any one, if France does her part. It is upon this you must explain 
" yourself clearly, and make it known, that the King, your Master, will 
" sincerely assist the King of England in establishing the Catholic religion 
" firmly here." Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 107. and Dalrymple, vol. ii. 
part 1. p. 174* 



HO OBSERVATIONS ON ' 

section u q U ^ i es pouvoit souhaiter, et ainsi je ne puis croire 

~* — ' " qu'on renouvelle dorenavant les memes instances. 

" Mais si, contre mon opinion, on vous faisoit encore 
" de semblables solicitations vous pouvez -declarer 
" nettement que je n'ai rien epargn6 pour vous donner 
u moyen d'assister le Roy d'Angleterre, lorsque j'ai eu 
" sujet d'apprehender que la religion Catholique dont 
" il fait profession ne servit de pretexte aux factieux 
" pour susciter des grands troubles dans son royaume 
" et pour Tempecher de jouir des revenus qui ex- 
" piroient par la mort du feu Roy *." And then, after 
some observations on the prosperous state of James's 
affairs, he adds, " Enfin, vous voyez bien que mon 

* " As I observe by your last, that you still insist on my having left 

" funds in your hands, for the wants which may arise at the Court where 

" you are ; I cannot resist expressing my surprize to you at observing 

" that, after having expressed my intentions to you in several of my 

" dispatches, you have not entirely deprived the ministers of that Court 

" of the hope they have conceived with so little reason, that while the 

* c King their Master was enjoying a greater revenue than any of his 

" predecessors ever had, I would continue to exhaust my treasury, and 

« sacrifice, without necessity, the funds of which I deprived myself only 

*' for the sake of giving their King extraordinary proofs of my friendship, 

" in case the bad state of his affairs had made it necessary for him to have 

" recourse to them. They are, by the grace of God, at present at the 

" point where they could be wished to be ; I cannot, therefore, believe 

" the same instances will be henceforth renewed : but if, contrary to my 

" opinion, the solicitations should be renewed, you may declare plainly 

•* that I spared nothing to afford you the means of assisting the King of 

<< England, when I had reason to apprehend that the Catholic religion, 

" which he professed, served only for a pretence to the factious to excite 

" great troubles in his kingdom, and to prevent his having the revenue 

" which expired on the death of his iate brother." Mr. Fox's Appendix, 
p. 115. 

7 



ME. POX'S HISTORICAL WORK. Ill 



SECTION 
III. 



** intention est que vous ne laissiez k la cour ou. vous 
" 6tes aucune esperance de tirer de vous le fonds qui * 

" est entre vos mains, et qu'au contraire vous devez le 
t* remettre incessament en celles des banquiers, afin 
" qu'ils le fassent repasser dans mon royaume par 
" toutes les occasions qu'ils en auront*." And then 
concludes his letter with telling Barillon, he is per- 
suaded James will be grateful to Providence for the 
happy success he has derived from it, in establishing 
the true religion which they both profess ; and directs 
him to assist James's intentions with address and 
gentleness. 

If the whole of the evidence, thus collected, of the Twoof J * mes ' s 

ministers being 
Protestants, no 
proof that the 
establishment of 
the Catholic 



: primary 

object- 



proceedings of James in England, Scotland, and Ire- 
land, together with the correspondence between Lewis 
the Fourteenth and his ambassador at this Court, 51™°* 
formerly printed by Sir John Dalrymple, and that 
lately produced by Mr. Fox, shall be thought sufficient 
to establish the accuracy of the opinion, that the 
establishment of the Catholic religion was the first 
object of James ; it is not very likely that much doubt 
will be raised on the point by Mr. Fox's observation, 
that two of the confidential advisers of this Monarch, 



* " In a word, you see clearly it is my intention that you shall not leave 
" the Court where you are any hope of drawing from you the funds in 
" your hands ; but, on the contrary, you should immediately place them- 
" in those of the bankers, that they may remit them to my kingdom, by 
" every opportunity that shall offer." Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 116.. 



112 



OBSERVATIONS OX 



SECTION 
III. 



Lauderdale and Queensberry, were Protestants ; when 
it shall be recollected, what an entire subserviency 
James experienced from the former, in every measure 
of importance, during the long time he presided in the 
administration of Scotland ; and that the latter was 
removed from his employment, because he would not 
become a Papist; and especially if it is also con- 
sidered, how the whole of that administration was 
composed. The words of Mr. Laing, on whose 
authority Mr. Fox places great confidence, are, 
" Queensberry, stripped of his employments, dis- 
" covered, when too late, that neither the sums 
" extorted for the Treasury, nor the merit of rendering 
" the prerogative absolute, could atone for his want of 
" the true faith. The administration was entrusted to 
W Papists only : to Perth, a trimmer and cruel ; to 
" Melfort, a cruel and rapacious statesman ; and to 
'* Murray, a convert, admitted to an ostensible share 
" of power*." The two former, who filled the high 
offices of Chancellor and Justice General, had em- 
braced t' t £ Catholic religion to obtain their employ- 
ments. 



Partiality of Mr. Fox, however, insists much on the partiality of 

James to tlie I 

Episcopalians. James to the Protestant Episcopalians, and on the test in 
their favour, as a proof that he had not, in the beginning 
of his reign, a design to establish Popery on the ruins 



Lain 



g, 8vo, ad edition, Vol. iv. p. \-o. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 113 



of their Church ; conceiving that a contrary opinion 
would be the height of absurdity *. But, with that 
respect which is due to his judgment, it may be asked, 
whether instances have not frequently occurred of 
whole bodies of men, as well as of individuals, having 
been led to promote the advancement of measures, 
which in the end have proved ruinous to themselves ? 
The test, on which so much reliance is placed, in this 
instance, as a protection for the established Church, 
was completely disposed of by James, as far as his 
power extended, in a few months after his accession ; 
as soon, in short, as the two Houses were adjourned, 
after they had granted him the revenue for his life : 
which point he put out of doubt in his speech, on their 
meeting again, before the expiration of the year, as 
referred to in another place. But if his language could 
have been mistaken, the eyes of all his Protestant 
subjects must have been most effectually opened by 
the appointment of Papists to commissions in the army, 
and to offices of trust. 

He certainly thought he could by management at 
first derive aid from the Episcopalians, to which he 
was encouraged by the state of their clergy at that 
time; many of whom, we are told by Crookshank 
in his History of the Church of Scotland, were 
become Arminians, and several running headlong 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 134. 



SECTION 
lit. 



114 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section j llto popish tenets *. But as he advanced in his plan, 

1 we have seen that he had as little tenderness for the 

Episcopalians as for the Dissenters. 

In a letter from Barillon to Lewis, written within a 
few days after the accession, he says, " Ce Prince 
" m'expliqua a fonds son dessein a l'egard des Ca- 
" tholiques, qui est de les etablir dans un entiere 
" liberte de conscience et d'exercice de la religion; 
" c'est ce qui ne se peut qu'avec du temps, et en con- 
" duisant peu-a-peu les affaires a ce but. Le plan 
" de sa Majeste Britannique est dy parvenir par le 
" secours et l'assistance du parti episcopal, qu'il re- 
" garde comme le parti royal, et je ne vois pas que 
" son dessein puisse aller a favoriser les Noncon- 
" formistes et les Presbiteriens, qu'il regarde comme 
" de vrais republicans. Ce projet doit etre accom- 
" pagn6 de beaucoup de prudence, et recevra de 
" grandes oppositions dans la suite •f-." 

* History of the Church of Scotland, Vol. ii. p. 452. 

f " This Prince (James) explained to me fully the whole of his plan 
" respecting the Catholics, which is to establish for them an entire liberty 
" of conscience, and the exercise of their religion •, which can succeed 
" only in time, and by completing the business gradually. The plan of 
* his Britannic Majesty is to accomplish his object by the aid of the 
" Episcopal party, which he considers as the Royal party ; and it does not 
" appear to me that he can have any intention of shewing favour to the 
" Nonconformists and Presbyterians, who he considers as true repub- 
«* licans. This project requires being managed with great prudence, and 
" will meet with considerable opposition in its progress." Mr. Fox's 
Appendix, p. xxxiii. 



MR. F0X*S HISTORICAL WORK. 115 

This declaration to Barillon shews plainly what section 

James had in his mind from the hour of his accession. ■ 

The communication was made to him at the very time 
he was telling his Privy Council, what he repeated a 
few months afterwards to Parliament, that he should 
make it " his endeavour to preserve the government 
" in church and state, as it is now by law esta- 
* Wished*. 

Mr. Fox is, however, extremely desirous of pressing on £^ e ° tmotires 
his readers the correctness of his opinion respecting the *??»**** 

••- i o violent measures 

motives for James's conduct; because the Tory writers, c£etS h " n 
especially such of them as are not Jacobites, have la- 
boured to prove, that the violences and illegalities of 
James should be attributed to his religion, " which was 
" peculiar to him, rather than to that desire of absolute 
** power, which so many other Princes have had, have, 
M and always will have, in common with him -f." He is, 
therefore, anxious that this reign should not be consi- 
dered as an insulated period, unconnected with the gene- 
ral course of history ; and that the events of it should 
not be attributed exclusively to the particular character 
and attachment of the Monarch; but rather that it 
should be considered " as a part of that system which 
*' had been pursued by all the Stuart Kings, as well 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 75. 
f Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 102. 
Q2 



116 OBSERVATIONS ON 

SE m I0N " prior as subsequent to the Restoration;" because 
* ' the lesson which it would in that case afford would 

be " very different, as well as far more instructive *." 

Mr. Fox appears, however, not to have been uni- 
form in that opinion, as he states in another part of 
his work, " As long as James contented himself with 
" absolute power in civil matters, and did not make 
" use of his authority against the church, every thing 
" went smooth and easy ; nor is it necessary, in order 
" to account for the satisfaction of the Parliament and 
" people, to have recourse to any implied compromise, 
" by which the nation was willing to yield its civil 
" liberties as the price of retaining its religious con- 
" stitution. The truth seems to be, that the King, in 
" asserting his unlimited power, rather fell in with the 
" humour of the prevailing party than offered any 
" violence to it -f." 

Without arguing from the natural temperament and 
disposition of James, which was of that gloomy and 
ascetic kind on which religious impressions are calculated 
to act mischievously ; without resting on the general 
popular belief, which, though sometimes rashly formed, 
seldom endures long without being founded on truth; 
Me may fairly conclude, from the evidence of authentic 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 102. f Ibid. p. 155. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 117 



documents which have been now produced, as well as 
upon undisputed historical facts, that his first and 
leading object was the establishment of Popery ; and 
that the attainment of arbitrary power, or the support 
of what his brother had already acquired, was only a 
secondary one in his regard. It is in such cases, it 
must be admitted, often difficult to distinguish between 
the cause and the effect, in motives or in consequences 
which are naturally combined. The hierarchy of 
Rome, which subjected the wills and consciences of men 
to one sovereign Pontiff*; which submitted opinion 
to infallibility, and threatened disobedience with the 
vengeance of Heaven; must have been more fa- 
vourable to the submission of the people to arbitrary 
sway in civil concerns, than the plainer and less pliant 
code of the reformed religion, particularly in its Cal r 
vinistic form. Accordingly in all countries divided 
in point of religion, (remarkably in France and Ger- 
many,) the Catholics have generally ranged them- 
selves on the side of absolute power, and the Pro- 
testants on that of freedom. But in tracing the actions 
of James, from his accession downwards, we find 
numerous instances of his adopting measures, to 
which he could be prompted only by his religious 
bigotry, because they were unfavourable to his arbi- 
trary power. 

* What its power or influence is now, it may be difficult to ascertain* 



SECTION 
HI. 



118 OBSERVATIONS 05* 



SECTION 
III. 



Even before the death of Charles, his anxiety for his 
brother breathing his last in the bosom of the Catholic 
Church induced him to act that difficult and very em- 
barrassing scene, which Barillon describes in his letter, 
giving an account of the death of the King ♦. " Je 

* Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. xii. 

Lord Dartmouth, in his M9. notes on Burnet, has the following 
entries. — On Vol. i. p. 358, 4th line. In one of the Duke's letters he 
writes, " Pray, once for all, never say any thing to me again of turning 
" Protestant : do not expect it, or flatter yourself that I shall ever be it. 
" I never shall ; and if occasion were, I hope God would give me his 
» grace to suffer death for the true Catholic religion, as well as banish- 
** ment. What 1 have done was not hastily, but upon mature considera- 
" tion ; and foreseeing all, and worse than has yet happened to me." — 
Again in p. 517 of same volume, line 7th from bottom. «* I have a 
" letter of the Duke's, dated December 14th, in which he says, " Besides 
" that in conscience I cannot do what you so press me to, it would not 
" be of that use or advantage to his Majesty as some think : for the 
" Shaftsburian and republican party would say it was only a trick ; that 
" I had a disposition, and was still a Catholic in my heart ; and say that 
" there was more reason to be afraid of Popery than ever. The reasons 
" are obvious. Besides I will never be brought to do it ; and therefore 
" am glad to see that the thought of his Majesty writing to me upon that 
" subject is laid aside : for, should he be prevailed upon to do it, one 
" might easily guess what must soon follow after. Therefore, let all my 
" friends see to hinder such a letter ; and put the thoughts of my com- 
" plying with them in that point, of changing my religion, quite out of 
" their heads. T 

And in another note in the same page : " I have a letter of the Duke's, 
" in which are these words ; " What you hint to me in your letter, and 
" what Lord Hallifax in his has more plainly said, and has been pressed 
" by Lord Hyde, concerning my going to church, has mortified me very 
" much ; since I cannot do it : for indeed I see nothing but ruin, when 
" such measures are taken as produced such a message to me, when there 
•" was no reason to believe I would comply." 



ME. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK, 119 

« hazarderai tout," said he to Barillon, « plut,6t que SE( Jf I I0N 

" dene pas faire mon devoir en cette occasion." And ' — 

from the very commencement of his own reign, all his 
proceedings were calculated for paving the way for the 
sovereign Pontiff re-admitting the English nation into 
the pale of the only true church, which marked most 
unequivocally his fixed and determined purpose. 

Amidst all the war of party, and the most violent 
measures adopted or proposed against himself per- 
sonally, he never conciliated his opponents ; nor did he 
ever court favour, or deprecate resentment, by any re- 
tractations of his religious opinions. His bigotry 
hoped to be the patron, but was content to be the 
martyr, of his faith. His conscience in this matter 
was a virtue, which it is impossible to deny him. He 
obeyed it on all occasions ; and uniformly spoke of 
that sacred obligation as paramount to every object 
of interest or ambition, or of any compliance to obtain 
them *. 



* Barillon's Dispatch, 26th February, 1685. Mr. Fox's Appendix, 
p. xxxiii. 

Lord Bellaais, himself a Papist, who was esteemed one of the wisest 
men of his party* and who had been first commissioner of the treasury, 
observed to Sir John Reresby, after the Abdication, " that it was almost 
" impossible to think that the King, being a Papist as he was, should 
" ever again be restored ; but that if he would but be a Protestant, it 
"would certainly happen, in a very short time." Reresby's Memoirs, 
p. 188. 

1 



120 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
III. 



General observa- 
tions on the 



subject. 



The alliance of religion with the vices or failings 
which its divine Author so constantly and so strongly 
condemns, is one of those moral paradoxes, unhappily 
but too common in the history of mankind. The 
genius of Christianity is forgotten amidst the forms 
which it assumes. Lewis the Fourteenth, whose am- 
bition was about to desolate a great part of Europe, 
whose intolerance incited him to reduce to want and 
misery a million of his subjects, was proud of what he 
thought the spirit, as well as the title, of *' the Most 
** Christian King ;" and reproved in some degree, as 
we have seen, the conceding policy of his ambassador, 
who seemed to intimate that the public celebration of 
mass was dangerous to James, when that measure was 
necessary, as Lewis expresses it, " to the ease of his 
*« conscience * ; and expresses his concern for the 
orthodoxy of the Catholic Church, which he hopes 
James will be able to establish in England, and that it 
may be free from Jansenism -)-. 

The same religious zeal indeed pervades the whole 
of Lewis's correspondence with his ambassador here J, 
in which almost every dispatch from JBarillon speaks of 
the danger of pressing the ceremonies of Popery on the 
€ourt ; and every answer of Lewis is full of the im- 
portance and obligation of them. 

* Barillon's Dispatch, pth March, 1685. Mr. Pox's Appendix, p.liv. 
t Lewis to Barillon, 16th March. Ibid. p. lv. 
$ Vide Mr. Fox's Appendix, passim. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 12J 

If we are right in the view we have taken of this seciton 
subject, it must be admitted that the truth of history ' ~~" 
should not be sacrificed for the sake of" an instructive 
" lesson." Even on that ground, Mr. Fox's system ■ 
does not seem to have any advantage. If history is to 
purify the passions, (as Aristotle says of tragedy,) by 
-exhibiting their fatal effects ; that example must be 
the most useful which is most general in its application. 
Now the lust of arbitrary power is a vice Confined to 
Icings, which by persons in ordinary life can be but 
little felt or understood ; whereas to bigotry and in- 
tolerance all ranks are subject, and their ill conse- 
quences are felt through all the stages of society. 

There is indeed no necessity for making such a 
sacrifice in the present instance, because there is 
abundant matter in the reigns of the three first 
Monarch's of the Stewart race, for all the instruction, 
of the sort Mr. Fox had in view, which any one may 
be desirous of conveying to posterity. Nor is it meant 
to contend that the last of them was less desirous of 
power than his predecessors, or that the means he 
availed himself of for the attainment of it was less 
exceptionable ; it is the use only he intended to make 
of that power, which has been here insisted on : a use, 
the necessity of which perhaps it would have been un- 
necessary to take so much pains in establishing, had 
it not been for the deduction which Mr. Fox seems 



122 OBSERVATIONS, &C. 



SECTION 
III. 



desirous of making from it ; namely, that the desire of 
power, and indeed of its abuse, is so natural to Kings, 
that it is needless to look for any motive, beyond that 
general one, to account for such tyrannical attempts in 
the Monarch against the freedom of the people ; but 
■which, it is the pride and the happiness of the subjects 
of the British empire to reflect, terminated at last, by the 
energy of the constitutional principles of our Govern- 
ment, and the native love of liberty in the country, 
in the ruin of the prince, and in the more firm 
establishment of the rights of the subject- 



SECTION THE FOURTH. 



is 



CONTENTS. 



Supplies of Money received from France privately, by Charles II. and 
James II — Not intended by either Party to prevent the Meetings of 
Parliament in England. — The Objects of Lewis and of the two English 
Monarchs in that corrupt Intercourse. — No new Discovery on the 
Subject by Mr. Fox. — His Charge against Sir John Dalrymple of 
with-holding criminating Matter against James not well-founded.— 
Observations on the Conduct of those who receiyed Money from France, 
and on the Credit due to the Statements of Barillon as affecting Lord 
Russell and Sidney. 



SECTION THE FOURTH. 



the remittances 
from Lewis to 
James. 



JLn the former sections we have ventured some remarks section 

IV. 

on those general points of Mr. Fox's narrative and -— 

° L Objects of the 

discussions, which appear rather to flow from a partial wo Months in 

7 r r IT the remittances 

view of the subject, than to be authorized by history ,or 
by the documents from which history is drawn. In 
this section is meant to be considered his representa- 
tion of particular circumstances in detail, with which 
he endeavours to support the system he has laid down. 
Among these one of the most prominent is Mr. Fox's 
assertion, that the object of the supplies furnished by 
Lewis to the two brothers was to prevent their calling 
Parliaments, and enabling them to govern altogether 
without the controul or intervention of these assemblies. 
In order to investigate this point, we come next to 



128 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section consider whether the remittances from France were 
intended to enable the King to govern without a Par- 
liament, and whether they could have been sufficient 
for that purpose. In order to which, it will be ne- 
cessary to refer to what passed on that subject in the 
last reign, as well as in the present. 

There are unquestionably abundant proofs of Charles 
agreeing either to put an end to the setting of Par- 
liaments ; to avoid summoning them ; or to obtain 
support in them for French objects, under engage- 
ments with Lewis, from time to time, as he wished to 
obtain money from him: but there is not the least 
probability that either one or the other entertained an 
opinion that the meeting of Parliaments could be 
entirely dispensed with. The extract of a letter from 
Lewis to Barillon, last referred to on the subject of the 
Catholic religion, dated 26th of July, affords a tolerably 
clear illustration that Lewis had no such intention. 
The engagements appear to have been entered into by 
Charles, that he might have occasional supplies of 
money, that were not to be accounted for in any way ; 
and by Lewis, that he might derive all the assistance 
that could be useful to him, from Charles or his brother, 
for the attainment of his objects, without the latter 
being restrained by their Parliaments: and we have 
seen that, in one instance, Charles, in the end of his 
reign, was enabled to hold out for nearly four years. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 129 

In an earlier part of it Monsieur Rouvigny writes, section 
2d September, 1674, that Charles had agreed either to Enga ;, em€nt9 of 
prorogue his Parliament to April, 1675, in considera- $S«rfST 
tion of 500,000 crowns ; or, if he should convene it in 
November, to dissolve it, in case it should refuse to 
give him money : in consideration of which he was to 
have a pension of Lu 100,000 a-year from France. On 
which Dairy m pie truly observes, that Charles after- 
wards chose the first of these alternatives ; got his 
monej% and France was enabled to carry on the war a 
year without any fear of the English Parliament. This 
bargain paved the way to a formal treaty with France 
in 1676 : by which the two Kings agreed to enter into 
no treaties without mutual consent; and Charles*, 
for another payment of 500,000 crowns, obliged 
himself to prorogue or dissolve the Parliament, 
if it should endeavour to force any treaties upon 
him contrary to that engagement ; which sum 
protected France, in carrying on the war, from the 
possibility of any interruption by an English arma- 
ment in 1675 : and a second pension, given in 167,6, 
is supposed to have enabled Charles to prevent the 
Parliament in that year from engaging him in a war 
with France -j\ But in the beginning of 1 677? the 
Parliament being disposed to a war with Holland, 
remittances were made freely from Lewis to ensure a* 

* Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. 99. -;- IbkJ. 

s 



130 OBSERVATIONS OX 

section favourable disposition to his designs ; and Charles 
"" became the instrument of bribing his own subjects 
with French money. 

Courtin writes, the 14th February, 1677, " Jai 
" recu la lettre de change de 11000 livres sterlings, 
" sur le quartier d'Octobre ; elle est venu fort a- 
" propos, par ce que le Roi d'Angleterre avoit besoin 
" d'argent pour gagner ceux qui sont accoutume a ne 
" faire de bruit que pour faire les mieux achester*." 

On the 1st of April, l677> he writes again : " II est 
" de ma connoissance qu ? il (Charles) a distribue tout 
" Targent qu'il a recu par mes mains, pour gagner les 
" suffrages dont il avoit besoin. II a si bien servi le 
" Roi jusqu'a cette heure, qu'il le merite d'etre assist6 
" dans ses necessites; et il sera tres important de 
" prendre soin de Tentretenir dans les bonnes dis- 
" positions dans lesquelles je l'ai laisse encore hier 
" au soir -f." 

* "I received the bill of exchange for £.11,000 sterling on the 
" October quarter. It came very a-pro-pos ; for the King of England 
" wanted money, to gain those who were accustomed to make a noise 
" only to be better bought." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. no. 

f " To my knowledge, he (Charles) has distributed all the money he 
* received from my hands, to gain the votes he stood in need of. He 
« has so well served the King to this hour, that he deserves to be 
" assisted in his necessities ; and it will be very important to take C3re to 
" keep him in the good disposition in which I left him yesterday in the 
" evening." Ibid. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 131 

And on the 13th of May, he writes again to his section 
Court : f* II est meme tr6s important que votre - -■ - 
" Majeste envoye ici le premier term du subside. 
" Monsieur de Bergick et l'envoy de l'Empereur 
" auront deux cens cinquante mille livres a distribuer 
" dans la Chambre Basse. lis feront plus avec cela 
" qu-on n'y pourroit faire de la part de votre Majeste 
" avec deux millions %" 

On the 22d February, 1677, Courtin advises his 
Court to offer 400,000 crowns to Charles, to dissolve 
his Parliament; which was acceded to. And it ap- 
pears, by a letter of his, on the 21st of June following, 
that he had received a power to give Charles L. 200,000 
for the ensuing year ; — augmented, as appears by an- 
other letter of the 12th July, to a pension of 500,000 
crowns, to prorogue or dissolve the Parliament, with 
the assistance of Lewis's forces, if it should be neces^ 
sary -f. But Charles insisted upon 800,000 crowns ; 
on assurance of which, he offered to prorogue the 
Parliament till the end of April, 1678 J. At last it 
was settled at two millions of livres. 



* " It is very important that your Majesty should send here the first 
" payment of the subsidy. Mr. Bergick and the Emperor's envoy will 
" have two hundred and fifty thousand livres to distribute in the Lower 
««■ House. They will do more with this than could be done on your 
11 Majesty's part with two millions." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. iio. 

f Ibid. p. no, and in. -j: Ibid. p. 112. 

c Q 



132 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section Courtin writes on the 5tli of August, H Le Roi 

- - - '" w d'Angleterre ra'a donne une parole positive d'ajourner 
* le Parlemeut quand le 13 mois Decembre sera venu, 
" jusqu'a^ la fin du mois d'Avril, c est a dire jusqu au 
" 9 ou 10 du mois de Mai selon de stile de France. 
" Je lui ai promis que votre Majeste lui fera payer 
" cette annee deux millions des livres, et quand le 
" dernier payement ne se fera que trois ou quatre mois 
" apres la fin du mois de Decembre, sa Majeste 
" Britannique ne pretendra pas avoir aucun sujet de 
" s'en plaindre */' 

In May, l6'78, Barillon writes that Charles himself 
would sign a treaty which had been agreed on, to pay 
him six millions of livres, on condition of his neutrality, 
in the event of the allies refusing the terms of peace 
which should be offered by France ; not assembling 
Parliament for four months ; and disbanding his army. 
" Le Roi lui meme signera le traite, aucuns des ses 
" sujets riest assez hardi pour l'oser faire-f." It is 

* " The King of England has given me a positive assurance, that he 
w will adjourn his Parliament from the 13th of December to the end of 
" April j (that is, to the 9th or 10th of May, according to the French 
'« style). I promised that your Majesty would pay him this yeaT two 
M millions of livres : but though the last payment should not be made till 
« two or three months after the month of December, his Britannic Majesty 
« would have no cause to complain." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. 113. 

t " The King himself will sign the treaty : none of his subjects are 
" bold enough to do it." Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. 157. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 133 



accordingly signed by Charles and Barillon ; and is 
entered at length, with other proceedings respecting it, 
in Dalrymple * ; the conditions of which were as above 
stated : the stipulation for the six millions of livres. 
being in a secret article. 

In August, 1679> a new treaty was set on foot for 
avoiding the meeting of Parliament ; on which occasion 
there are the following passages in Monsieur Barillon's 
letter of the 3d of that month : " Qu'il etoit terns que 
" votre Majeste prit un resolution et se determinat a 
" le secourir d'une somme d'argent qui le mit en etat 
" de ne pas recevoir la loi de ses sujets. Que s'il 6toit 
" assure de ce secours, il esperoit trouver des moyens 
" de remettre ses affaires dans la suite, et de ne plus 
" dependre du caprice de la Chambre Basse. Je pris 
" cette occasion pour supplier sa Majeste Britannique 
■" de m'expliquer quelles sont ses intentions sur les 
" seances du Parlement; et je lui representai qu'il 
" etoit fort difficile que votre Majeste put prendre 
" aucune resolution, qu'elle ne f&t pleinement informee 
" de la conduite que Ton devoit tenir ici a Fegard de 
" Tassemblee du Parlement, et sans savoir s'il a dessein 
" de s'en passer pour long terns, ou d'en eloigner seule- 
" ment les seances par des prorogations frequentes. 
?* Le Roi d'Angleterre me repondit, que j'avois vu ce 

* Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. 157 to 171. 



SECTION 
IV. 



134 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section « q U >^ veno it de faire, et que sans avoit aucune re- 

" ponse de votre Majeste, ni etre instruit de ses 

" intentions a son egard, il avoit pris le parti de casser 

" le Parlement; qu'il en pourroit encore eloigner la 

" seance, selon qu'il connoitroit les bonnes ou les 

" mauvaises dispositions de ceux qui le composeroient ; 

" que cependant il ne pouvoit s'engager ni promettre 

" de se passer absolument de Parlement, parce qu'il 

w n'esperoit pas que votre Majeste lui voulut fournir 

" les sommes dont il auroit besoin, pour soutenir les 

" depenses necessaires de son Etat, et pour subsister 

" long terns sans Parlement ; qu'il attendoit seulement 

" des marques presentes de la bonne volonte de votre 

" Majeste, qui le mettroient en etat de gagner du 

•" terns, et de faire voir aux gens mal intentionnes qu'il 

" n'est pas reduit a se remettre entre leurs mains ; que 

•' personne ne connoit mieux que lui combien il est 

" important que ce que sa Majeste feroit en sa faveur 

" demeure secret et ne soit pas penetre. Ce Prince 

" entra ensuite dans le detail de ses affaires, et m'ex- 

" pliqua combien ses revenus sont diininues. II me 

" fit entendre que la perte qu'il souffre ne se peut 

" reparer entierement que par le Parlement ; mais 

" que pour en venir a bout, il taut que ses sujets con- 

" noissent qu'il se peut passer d J eux ; qu'alors ils 

" seront plus traitable et prendront une conduite dif- 

" ferente de celle qu'ils ont tenue dans les dcrniers 

" terns. Je lui dis que les assemblies du Parlement 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 135 

" me paroissoient toujours fort dangereuses, et qu'il section 

" 6toit difficile de s'en promettre rien de favorable 

" pour ses inter6ts, et qu'il seroit toujours expose a. 

" voir le Parlement se porter k tout ce qui est con- 

" traire a la France, et a le forcer peut&tre k y entrer 

" lui meme. Le Roi d'Angleterre m'interrompit sur 

" cela, et me dit : Je vois l'etat ou je suis reduit pre- 

" sentement ; ne croyes pas que je me laisse con- 

" traindre a rien faire qui me puisse priver du seul 

" appui qui me peut soutenir. L'obligation que 

" j'aurai au Roi votre Maitre,. me retiendra toute 

" ma vie dans ses interets, quand meme je ne con- 

" noitrois pas par experience combien il seroit dan- 

" gereux pour moi de perdre son amitie. II faut 

" qu'il se fie a moi, et quil croye que rien ne sera 

" capable de me faire oublier ce que je lui devrai; 

" je ne laisserai pas venir les affaires si avant que je 

" puisse etre contraint par le Parlement ; et je pren- 

" drai pour cela tous les engagemens, et donnerai 

" toutes les sdrctes qu'on peut desirer *." 

* u That it was time your Majesty should take a resolution, and 
u determine yourself to assist him with a sum of money, which might 
" put him in a condition not to receive law from his subjects. That if 
" he was certain of this help, he hoped he should find means to re-' 
" establish his affairs afterwards, and not any longer depend on the 
" caprice of the House of Commons. I took this occasion to beg his 
" Britannick Majesty to explain his intentions with regard to the sitting 
M of Parliament •, and I represented to him, that it was very difficult for 
" your Majesty to take any resolution, till you were fully informed of the 
** conduct which would be followed here with regard to the meeting of 

4 



\S6 OBSERVATIONS OK 

section On the 9th of October, Barillon maintains in his 
letter that a treaty was moving slowly on ; and a copy 

" Parliament, and without knowing if he designed to go on without one 
" for a long time, or only to put off the session by frequent prorogations. 
" The King of England answered, that I saw what he had just done ; 
" and that, without having any answer from your Majesty, or knowing 
*< your intentions with regard to him, he had taken the part of dissolving 
" the Parliament ; that he could still put off the meeting of a new one, 
" according as he knew the good or bad dispositions of those who com- 
« posed it ; that however he could not engage or promise to dispense 
** altogether with Parliaments, because he had no hopes that your Majesty 
" would furnish the sums necessary for sustaining the expences of the 
" state, and supporting him long without the assistance of Parliament ; 
« that he only expected some present marks of your Majesty's good will, 
« which might put him in a condition of gaining time, aud shewing the 
" malecontents that he was not reduced to put himself into their hands : 
" That nobody knew better than him how important it was, that what your 
« Majesty may do for him should remain secret and impenetrable. This 
" Prince afterwards entered into a detail of his affairs, and explained to me 
" how much his revenues are diminished. He made me understand, that 
" the loss he suffers cannot be entirely repaired but by Parliament ; but to 
" bring this about, it was necessary his subjects should know that he 
* could do without them •, and that then they will be more tractable, and 
«« follow a different conduct from that they have lately held. I told him, 
« that the meetings of Parliament always appeared to me very dangerous ; 
" and that it was difficult to promise himself any thing from it favourable 
" to his interests ; and that he would be always exposed to see the Par- 
" liament carry itself in every thing contrary to France, and perhaps force 
" him to enter into such measures himself. The King of England inter- 
" rupted me upon this, and said : I see the state to which I am at present 
" reduced ; don't believe I will let myself be constrained to do any thing 
" that can deprive me of the only prop which can support me. The 
u obligation which I shall be under to the King your Master, will retain, 
" me all my life in his interests, even though I did not know by ex- 
" perience how dangerous it would be for me to lose his friendship. He 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 137 

of it is preserved in the depot, though it was not section 

perfected : the secret article in which is, " Sa Majeste 

P tres Chretienne promet de faire payer a sa Majeste 
**. Britannique la somme d'un million de livres Tournois 
" par an pendant trois ans, a compter d'ajourdhui • 
" la quelle somme d'un million sera payee par chacun 
" annee a Londres, en quatre payemens egaux de 
f* trois mois en trois mois, a, condition toutesfois que 
" sa Majeste Britannique n'assemblera point son 
" Paiiement pendant trois ans ; et en cas que pendant 
* les dits trois ans le Parlement fut assemble, sa 
•" Majeste tres Chretienne pourra faire cesser les 
" payemens qui resteront a, faire. 

" Sa Majest6 Britannique considerant que pour 
" plusieurs raisons qui ne regardent que le dedans de 
" son royaume, et que ne peuvent etre prevues, il 
" pourroit etre necessaire dissembler son Parlement 
" pendant trois ans, se reserve la liberte de la faire, 
" promettant, en cas qu'elle s'y trouve obligee de ne 
" pas sourTrir qu'il se traite aucune chose au prejudice 
f* de son alliance avec sa Majeste tres Chretienne ; 
f mais plutot de proroger ou de casser le Parlement, 

" must trust to me, and believe that nothing will be capable to make me. 
f* forget what I shall owe to him. I will not let affairs go so far, as tha^ 
" Parliament shall be able to compel me : and for this I will form every 
« engagement, and give every security that can be desired." Dalrymple's 
Appendix, p. 233. 

T 



138 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section ♦< s i e ][ e ne ] e pouvoit empecher autrement ; et consent 

— —— — " sa dit Majest6 Britannique, que sa Majeste tres 

" Chretienne soit juge elle raerae, si les payemens qui 

44 resteront a faire d'un million par an devront etre 

" continues*." 

On the 3d of February, 1681, Barillon writes to 
Lewis : " II reste seulement une difficulte, c'est celle 
44 d'eloigner pour toujours la seance du Parlement. 
44 Je scai bien que c'est une surete que votre Majeste 
44 a raison de demander ; mais elle me promit a 
44 Tann6e 1679, de consentir que le Parlement s'as- 
44 semblat quand le Roi d'Angleterre croiroit le devoir 

* " His Most Christian Majesty promises to pay to his Britannic 
" Majesty the sum of one million of livres Tournois per annum for three 
" years, to be computed from this day : which sum of one million shall 
«« be paid every year in London, by four equal payments, from three 
" months to three months ; upon condition always that his Britannic 
" Majesty shall not assemble his Parliament during three years: and in 
" case during the three years the Parliament shall be assembled, his Most 
« Christian Majesty may cause the payments that remain to cease. 

" His Britannic Majesty considering, for many reasons which regard 
" only the interior of his kingdom, and which cannot be foreseen, that 
u he may be under the necessity of assembling his Parliament within 
" three years, reserves to himself the liberty of doing it •, promising, in 
" case he shall find himself obliged to do so, not to suffer any thing to be 
" treated of to the prejudice of his alliance with his Most Christian 
•* Majesty; but rather to prorogue or dissolve the Parliament, if he 
« cannot otherwise prevent it. And his said Britannic Majesty consents 
" that his Most Christian Majesty shall himself be judge, if the payments 
" that shall remain to be made of a million per annum ought to be 
« continued." Dalrymple's Appendix, p. 344. 



mr. fox's historical work. 139 

" faire pour ses interests, pourvu qu'alors les subsides section 
" cessassent *." 

These extracts, it is feared, may be tedious to the 
reader : nothing has, however, been selected but what 
appeared to be necessary for a full consideration of the 
subject. 

From the light now thrown upon it by this cor- Advantages 

, - 1 ■ gaiiied by Lewis 

respondence, and adverting to the amount of the «omthes ere - 

1 ° mittances to the 

supplies granted by the British Parliament, the most twob r°*«6. 
probable conjecture by far seems to be, that the aids 
solicited by Charles and his brother, and given by 
Lewis, were with the intention of keeping Parliaments 
in check, rather than for the purpose of enabling the 
English Monarchs, as Mr. Fox supposed, to govern 
without them. Lewis certainly obtained objects of 
great importance to himself by his bounty. The war 
between England and Holland; the breach of the 
treaty between England and Spain, by which Lewis 
got the remainder of the Spanish Netherlands ; and 
the alienation of James from the Prince of Orange, 

* " There remains only one difficulty, which is that of putting off for 
" ever the sitting of Parliament. I know very well it is a security your 
« { Majesty has reason to demand ; but you promised me, in 1679, to 
« consent that the Parliament should assemble, when the King of 
" England should think it necessary for his own interests, provided that 
« in that case the subsidies should cease." Dalrymple's Appendixj 
p. 294. 

T 2 



140 



OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 

rv. 



who was the greatest obstacle to. the ambitious views 
of Lewis*; were among the fruits of the corrupt 
transactions. 



Information 
produced by 
J)alrymple on 
the several 
points more full 
ili;.n that ob- 
tained by 
Mr. Fox. 



Those who wish to be more fully and particularly 
informed on the whole of the intercourse between the 
English and French Courts, during the reigns of Charles 
the Second and James the Second, will not be dis- 
appointed in referring to Dalrymple's Memoirs; for, 
although there may be ground for differing with that 
author on his reasoning, there is no appearance of his 
having had any reluctance to the discovery of facts, or 
to the production of documents by which they might be 
ascertained. It is difficult, therefore, to understand on 
what foundation Mr. Fox has stated, that it was in 
consequence of his dissatisfaction at the manner in 
which Mr. Macpherson and Sir John Dalrymple had 
explained and conducted their respective publica- 
tions*-^, that he was induced to consult the original 
documents ; and added, " that the correspondence of 
" Barillon did not disappoint his expectations ; as he 
" thought the additional information, contained M 
"those parts of it which Sir John Dalrymple had 
" omitted to extract or to publish, so important, that 



* These objects are represented by Barillon to have been stated by 
Sunderland as a principle to be acted upon. Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. tfcv 
Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part i. page 155. 

t Mr. Fox's Introduction, p. 24. 



MR. FOx's HISTORICAL WORK. ]45 

" be procured copies of them all :"— observing to one section 
ofihis correspondents^ " my studies at Paris have been ~ 

"useful bej'ond what I can describe*." It cer- 
tainly does not appear how these studies of Mr. Fox; 
and the industry of his friends in copying for him <fj 
were usefully applied; fur, on attentively comparing 
the letters he has printed, with Sir John, Dairy mple's 
Appendix,, it will be difficult to find the discoveries 
alluded - to. We are therefore to learn what founda- 
tion there is for imputing to that author an attempt at 
concealment, respecting any part of the censurable 
conduct of James, by withholding a part of the cor* 
respondenee of the year . 1685 ; the whole of which is 
not published by Mr. Fox himself; who has omitted a 
very long letter of the 26th of March, 1685, printed by 
Dalrymple J, in which James's demand for a supply to 
an immense amount is represented, and the profligate 
views-of himself and his ministers are fully developed, 
Dalrymple could not have been restrained from pro- 
ducing to the public the letters he met wifeh by. any 
possible motive,, but the apprehension of < swelling his 
book to such a size as to deter any one from reading 
it§. There is not a single trait in the character or 

* Mr. Fox's Introduction, p. 34. f Ibid.; 

, J Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part I. p. 141.: 

§ They already fill a very large quarto volume, ck>9ely printed ; and 
are so numerous, as to-render it unlikely .that more than a very few should 
he acquainted., with them. It is hardly possible Mr. Fox could have read 
them : he would otherwise have been aware that Sir John had produced 



142 



OBSERVATIONS ON" 



SECTION 
IV. 



conduct of either of the Monarehs, which could have a 
tendency to render their memories hateful to posterity, 
of which he has not brought proof. He has shewn 
that the measures adopted by both, in consequence of 
their infamous intercourse with France, were dangerous 
to the constitution at home, and ruinous to the 
interests of their county abroad. And it will not be 
doubted but that he has sufficiently marked the 
atrocity of James on his accession, as well as during 
the few months which Mr. Fox's History embraces. 
The issue might safely be tried in that very period, 
whether Sir John Dairy m pie's proofs are not at least 
as incontestible as Mr. Fox's ; and whether they are 
not brought forth at least as convincingly. 



The whole letter of the ]8th of February, 1685, 
without date in Mr. Fox's Appendix, is printed by 
Dalrymple *, wherein Barillon gives an account of 
what passed in Charles's last moments, relative to his 
dying a Catholic. An extract of Barillon's letter of 
February 19th, from " il me fit hierf," in which is a 
laboured apology from James, to avoid giving offence 

stronger evidence on the same points than he had done. He would also, 
as observed in another place, have been aware of that author's reference 
to the Clarendon Papers to support a fact, which Mr. Fox considers a* 
utterly unsupported. 

* Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. n. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part i. p. 90. 
f Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 18 to 21. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. parti, 
p. 100. 



mr. fox's HISTORICAL WORK. 143 

to Lewis, by calling a Parliament without consulting section 
him, as he promises to do in every thing ; a step he 
professed to have taken from necessity, and to keep up 
appearances : — and in which likewise the Lord Trea- 
surer insists, if the King had not money from Lewis, 
he would be at the mercy of his people ; concluding, 
" et que de ce commencement dependoit tout le 
" bonheur de son Maitre." 

The 26th of February, 1685 *, from the beginning to 
•* et si je n'en serois pas chasse f wherein it appears 
Lewis had sent James 500,000 livres, which he 
received with the warmest effusions of gratitude -j- ; 
that his confidential ministers were acquainted with 
Lewis's bounty, who immediately expressed their satis- 
faction thereat, and stated the good consequences 
which would result therefrom ; urging, therefore, 
prompt supplies ; referring, at the same time, to the 
stipulations with Charles, and to arrears due at his 
death ; and alluding to the Spanish treaty. 

The 1st of March, 1685, from " J'arrive de White- 
«' hall \" to " le Prince d'Orange ;" in which it is 

* Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 29. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part 1. p. 106. 

f He was at the time in the receipt of his brother's revenue ; and from 
the disposition of the whole country, he was sure of ample supplies 
on the meeting of Parliament, which proved to be abundant and cheerfully 
given. 

% Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 42. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part 1. p. 115. 

6 



144 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section stated that James refuses to receive the submi ion of 
~~ the Prince of Orange, unless he will connect himself 

with France. 

The 16th of April, 1(505, from " Milord Sunder- 
< 6 land *," to " le Prince d'Orange ;" in which is 
mentioned that Lord Sunderland was of opinion that 
James should not merely break with his Parliament, 
the Prince of Orange, and the House of Austria, but 
that he should separate from them with eclat, and take 
off the mask completely, when Parliament should have 
granted the revenues ; that Lord Godolphin, however, 
was not inclined to go the whole length, respecting 
the Parliament and the Prince of Orange. 

The 30th April, there are extracts relative to the 
King going publicly to mass, and to the practice of 
bribing English members of Parliament -f-. 

The 16th of July, 1685, from " Milord Sunder- 
" land J," to " la religion Catholique," in which Lord 
•Sunderland protests the King has nothing so much at 
lieart as establishing the Catholic religion; which can 

* Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 60. Dalrymple, Vol. fi. part 1. p. 155. 

-j- .Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 66, and 60. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part u 
p. 174, and 153. 

% Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 107, and 108. DaJrymple, Vol. ii. part 1. 
p. J 74. 



MR. FOx's HISTORICAL WORK. 145 



only be effected by a strict alliance with France. And 
in another part of the same letter, from " qu'il avoit" 
to " Francois *," there is an expression of James to 
Barillon, " that he had been brought up in France, 
" had eaten of his Majesty's bread, and that his heart 
? was French." 

The 29th of October, 1685, from " II ajouta" to 
" royale -f," in which Barillon tells Lewis that James 
had declared to him his intention to make the Par- 
liament revoke the Test Act and the Habeas Corpus 
Act. The first of these he always considered as having 
been levelled principally against himself. This was a 
subject of constant complaint with his Majesty ; and 
Sir John Reresby states, that in all his private com- 
munications with Members of Parliament under his 
influence, " he told them the Test Act was made in 
" the height of faction, not so much in prejudice to 
" the Roman Catholics in general, as to himself in 
" particular, and to obviate his rightful accession ; 
" that while that and the penal laws remained in 
" force, no soul of that persuasion could be safe ; that 
" it was against all municipal law for free-born subjects 
" to be excluded the service of their Prince, or for a 



* Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 109. Dalrymple, Vol. n. part 1. p. 17$. 

f Mr. Fox's Appendix, p. 127. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. part I. p. 171. 

U 



SECTION 
IV. 



146 OBSEUVATIONS ON 

section « Prince to be restrained from employing such subjects 

4 ' " as he thought for his service; and that he, there- 

" fore, hoped they would be so loyal as not to refuse 
" him their voices for annulling such unreasonable 
" laws : every man that persisted in a refusal was sure 
" to be outed*." He certainly found great embar- 
rassment from the Test Act in every step he took for 
the attainment of his views, notwithstanding the 
success he had experienced with the Judges, respecting 
his dispensing power. From the provisions of the 
Habeas Corpus Act he could not extricate himself at 
all. But however desirous he might be of influencing 
the decision of Parliament on these two important 
laws ; and notwithstanding the approbation he had 
manifested of the indiscriminate use of French money 
in the hands of his brother ; at one time offering to 
lend Lewis a sum for the purpose of his giving it to 
Charles -j-; he did not at all delight in the application 

# Reresby's Memoirs, March 7th, 1685, p. 135. 

f Barillon, in his letter of the 2d of October, 1679, tells Lewis that 
the Duke of York offered to lend Lewis his own money, as a mark of con- 
fidence, and to facilitate the pecuniary part of the treaty. And in another 
letter, of the 2d of November following, suggests that the first payment 
shall be made to Charles out of his brother's money, (Dalrympk's Ap- 
pendix, I. p. 237-,) with which loan his Royal Highness might very 
well have been able to assist Lewis and his brother, considering the 
reputation he had for economy, and that he had an income of upwards of 
£. 104,000 a-year, equal, in proportion to the value of money in 1797, to 
£.279j©co, according to a very accurate table, made by the lr.ee Sir 



mb. fox's historical work. 347 

of it, after he came to the Crown in 1685, for the section 
purpose of obtaining votes in the House of Commons ; ' "~ 

assigning as a reason, that he had formerly known the 
inconvenience which happened from it, that all who 
wanted money, or posts, distinguished themselves 
against the Court, in order to gain their point *. 

With such evidence before us, produced by Sir John 
Dalrymple, in support of charges against the two 
brothers, it appears not to be quite consistent with justice 
to reproach him with having " omitted to extract or 
" publish important dispatches ;" as it would he ex- 
tremely difficult to devise a possible motive, after what 
he produced himself, for withholding one sentence 
printed by Mr. Fox. The researches of the latter 
were confined, as already observed, to a part of the 
year 1685 ; whereas the Baronet applied his industry 

George Shuckborough, and printed in the Philosophical Transactions 
of that year, part I. p. 176. 

His Royal Highness's revenue arose as under : 

Excise and post office - £.79,800 

His Majesty, for his Royal Highness's children 3,000 

Cofferer for diet .- 10,406 

Forfeited estates in Ireland - 7,800 

Small branches - 3>50° 



Journals of H. C. Vol. xviii. p. 118. £.104,500 

Dalrymple, Vol. ij. part 1. p. 154. 

u2 



148 OBSERVATIONS O^ 

section ^ everv thing he could find, from the year 166? * ta 
~ ~~" the Revolution : to which glorious event the measures 
of James necessarily led. 

Mr. Fox's it is of little importance to the object of this pub- 

eliarge against l " * 

Maephersoft. ]i C ation, whether Macpherson had recourse to the 
journal of King James, or to the historical narrative 
compiled from it, as there are only some general 
references to the authorities produced by him : but 
although Mr. Fox says, in a letter to a friend, that he 
had learnt from undoubted authority that Macpherson 
never saw the former ; and that he had detected an 
impudent imposture -j- ; no proof is offered of these 
assertions. The papers, by the common courtesy of 
the College, were accessible to every one who went 
to Paris : it is not intelligible, therefore, why they 
should have been refused to, or neglected by, Mac- 
pherson. The Tory or Jacobite tendency, which so 
much offended Mr. Fox in that writer, would have 
been no disqualifying character with the worthy prin- 
cipal or associates of that seminary : nor indeed does 
it seem easy to assign a reason for Macpherson having 
falsely pretended to consult the original, as it has 
never been alleged that the abstract differs materially 

* See the account of money distributed by Monsieur Courtin in 166 7* 
Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. 314. 
-f Introduction to Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 26. 



mr. fox's historical work, 149 

from it. Mr. Hume saw both ; and has given a short section 
sketch of the MS. of King James, as far as relates to 
the schemes in the alliance with France*. 



the two Mo- 
rurelis and some 
of their subjects, 
on receiving pri- 



It is impossible for any man of an upright and an J^2"' t °of 
honourable mind not to be struck with indignation at 
the conduct of these two Monarchs, respecting their 
connections with France. There is something still aSLmTewif. 
more degrading in the manner of their obtaining the 
pecuniary assistance which they received from Lewis, 
than if, equally false to their duty and to their 
kingdom, they had acquired it by the exertions of 
diplomatic address, or the force of arms. Nothing can 
justify the conduct of the two brothers, in their private 
communications and corrupt connections with the 
French King. An attempt to palliate it, by urging 
the long and hereditary connections which had sub- 
sisted between the Stewart dynasty and the Monarchs 
of France, to whom they were always accustomed to 
look up for assistance against foreign, and protection 
against domestic, enemies, would be but a bad defence. 
Every native of Great Britain, carrying on a clan- 
destine correspondence with a foreign power, in matters 
touching the interests of Great Britain, is primd facie 
guilty of a great moral, as well as political, crime. If 
a subject, he is a traitor to his King and his country ; 
if a Monarch, he is a traitor to the Crown which he- 

* Volume viii. p. 4. in the note. 



l.)0 OBSERVATIONS OI» 



SECTION 
IV. 



wears, and to tlie empire which he governs. There 
may, by possibility, be circumstances to extenuate 
the former ; there can be none to lessen our detestation 
of the latter. 

That large sums were received from France by the 
two Monarchs, their ministers, and others of their 
subjects, it will be impossible to doubt, when the cor- 
respondence of Courtin and of Barillon with their 
Court shall have been read : for, on arguing the tes- 
timony of the papers of those ambassadors as historical 
evidence, it must be acknowledged, without reference 
to legal nicety, that their letters must be uniformly 
admitted or rejected ; not admitted against the King, 
and rejected against his opponents. That will not, 
however, preclude the argument which their intrinsic 
nature, or the comparison of other cotemporary docu- 
ments, afford, to criminate the one or exculpate the 
other. The zeal of some of the admirers of Sidney 
and Russel (a zeal natural to a British mind) led 
them at first to dispute the authenticity of Barillon's 
letters altogether, which, Mr. Fox says, " were worth 
** their weight in gold *." A better defence, however, 
has always appeared capable of being made bv no 
very unreasonable suspicion, not of the authenticitv, 
but of the authority, of that minister's correspondence, 
connected with the nature of the transactions them- 

* Introduction to Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. am. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 151 

selves ; and the equivocal purpose of his statements, section 
with regard to the intercourse between him and the " 
leaders in the British Parliament. 

It is difficult to be persuaded, that the distributions i> oubts . wliethe * 

x the remittances 

stated by him are in all instances correct ; particularly j^SSa 
in the cases of the two distinguished men above men- 
tioned, notwithstanding the observation of Sir John 
Dalrymple, " that when he found in the French dis- 
" patches, Lord Russel intriguing with the Court of 
" Versailles, and Algernoon Sydney taking money from 
" it, he felt very near the same shock as if he had seen 
" a son turn his back in the day of battle*." So 
strong an expression would naturally lead the reader to 
expect that the imputation would be established 
beyond all possibility of doubt : but some relief must 
be derived from learning that the proof of the facts, 
which occasioned this severe trial of Sir John's nerves, 
rests on the authority of Barillon's letters-}-. That 
minister stated that he had given two bribes of L.500 
each to Sydney J; and that with Lord Russel he had 
been in a clandestine intercourse. 

* Dalrymple, Vol. ii. Preface, p. vii. 

f Except the statement in Dalrymple, that among the letters to Lord 
Danby in 1677-8 there are some from Montagu, then ambassador at 
Paris, in which he informs his Lordship that Rouvigny was to go over 
with money, to act in concert with Lord Russel ; and that Barillon was 
intriguing with the Duke of Buckingham, and the popular party in Eng- 
land. Ibid. p. 130. % Ibid. Vol. ii. part I. p. 315. 

5 



X52 OBSERVATIONS OX 

section Without resolving the question just now alluded to, 

lnKrcwneof or. deciding Avhat degree of extenuation is admissible in 
syiywith and tne case of a subject of one Prince having private com- 
munications, on matters of state, with the ambassador 
of another, in time of peace; it must be observed, 
that in the whole of the correspondence between 
Barillon and his Court, there is not one syllable 
tending to an insinuation that either of those persons 
shewed a disposition to give furtherance to any view 
of Lewis, hostile to what they believed to be the true 
interests of their country * : on the contrary, Monsieur 
Barillon himself furnishes evidence of the principles 
which Sydney avowed to him, and on which he acted, 
very opposite to any wish of aiding James's objects -)-. 
The statement by Barillon, of Sydney having accepted 
the money from him, is certainly very plain and dis- 
tinct : but however we may differ from that distin- 
guished man as to the form of government best 
adapted to promote the happiness and prosperity of 
his country +, in judging on a point of high importance 
to his reputation, it will not, we hope, be thought 
illiberal, or bearing too hard on the memory of a 

* See Dalrymple, Vol. ii. pages 130, 131. 134. 

t Letters from Barillon to Lewis the Fourteenth, of September 30, 
1680. Dalrymple, Vol. ii. p. 312. 

t In addition to his works published, we have Barillon's statement to 
Lewis of the principles avowed openly by Sydney to him, in his letter of 
September 30th, 1680. Appendix to Dalrymple, Vol.ii. p. 312. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK- 153 



foreigner of considerable note, if we have in our con- 
templation, on one hand, the high character of our 
countryman for inflexible integrity, and the impro- 
bability of his doing any thing unworthy of that for 
two sums comparatively so paltry ; and, on the other 
hand, that Barillon was entrusted by his Sovereign 
with very large sums of money; the distribution of 
which he was of course to give some account of, but 
for which no vouchers could be required of him : and 
if it shall be thought allowable to entertain a doubt of 
the accuracy of the accounts of the ambassador, we 
may then venture to suggest that he had a twofold 
inducement to place those sums to the name of Mr. 
Sydney, as furnishing a discharge for the amount 
stated to be given ; and affording means of obtaining 
credit with his employer, for having been able, to 
prevail with such a man to receive foreign money for 
any purpose. 

This appears not to be an unfair way of viewing the 
subject. Mr. Fox, however, could hardly be aware 
how Barillon's testimony bore on the character of 
these two men, on whom he bestows great and just 
eulogiums, when thinking it useful in support of a 
position he wished to maintain, he appreciated the 
value of Barillon's letters so highly, as we have 
observed, and added that his studies at Paris " had 
" been useful beyond what he could describe/' 
x 



SECTION 
IV. 



154 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section jf t^ possibility of Monsieur Barillon having 

**" diverted the application of any of the money with 

which he was entrusted, to other uses than those he 
stated to his Court, should be admitted ; there are 
passages in Madame de Sevigne's letters, as well 
during the residence of that minister here, as after his 
return to France, which may deserve attention. On 
the 20th of April, 1672, when he was at home on 
leave, she writes, " Barillon a fait ici un grand sejour : 
" il s'en va, etc. : son emploi est admirable cette an nee, 
" il mangera cinquante mille francs ; mais il sait bien 
" ou les prendre." And after his final return to 
France, she writes of the 21st March, 1689, " Mon- 
« sieur de Barillon est riche, gras, vieux, a cc qu'il 
** dit, et regarde sans envie la brillante place de 
* Monsieur D'Avaux. II aime la paix et la tran- 
" quilite au milieu de ses amis, et de sa famille, dont 
" il est contente *." 

Mr. Fox, in a letter to a private friend, says, 
*' I remember most of the passages in Madame de 

* In this letter she alludes to a former one of her's, of the 2d of the 
same month, in which she says, speaking of James the Second's de- 
parture from France, " Le Roi la comble de toutes choses, et grandes, et 
" petites; deux millions, des vaisseaux, des fregates, des troupes, des 
«« officiers ; Monsieur D'Avaux, qui fait en cette occasion la plus belle et 
** la plus brillante figure du monde : oui je ne vois personne qui ne 
«« trouve cet emploi digne d'envie, et d'un homme consomme dans les 
«' affaires, ct capable de donner de bons conseils ; si Monsieur de Barillou 
M ne sont cela, il est bien heureux." 

4 



Mil. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 155 



" Sevigne, and will trouble you to hunt for another, 
" which I also remember, and which in some view 
• is of importance. If my memory does not deceive 
" me, in one of the early volumes, while Barillon is in 
" England, she mentions the report of his being getting 
** a great deal of money there : but I have not been 
" able to find the passage *." From the nature of the 
inquiry, it seems not unlikely that, if the search had 
been successful, it might have produced somewhat of 
the same effect in Mr. Fox's mind that the extracts 
here quoted may not improbably do on that of the 
reader ; and might have a little shaken the confidence 
he appears to have had in the minute accuracy of the 
ambassador, although not as to his general statements. 

Mr. Fox's observations on the conduct of Par- 
liament, respecting the bill for the preservation of the 
King's person, appear, from the latter part of the note 
at the bottom of the page -f-, to have arisen, at least in 
a considerable degree, from a desire to impress his 
readers with an opinion that some measures, which 
were adopted a few years ago for the public safety, 
were of a similar nature with the provisions in this bill : 
but nothing is said to point out the resemblance. The 
treasons denned by the bill, as originally brought in, did 
not differ essentially from those previously established 
by the law of England. The substantive acts of 

* Introduction to Mr. Fox's Work, p. 49. 
f Mr. Fox's Historical "Work, p. 146. 

-x 2 



SECTION 
IV. 



156 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section compassing or imagining the death or destruction, 

— or bodily harm tending to the death or destruction, 

maim, wounding, or imprisonment of the King ; or 
to deprive him of, or to depose him from, the 
Crown ; or to levy war against him *, or to stir 
foreigners to invade the kingdom ; are certainly 
treasons within the most limited construction of the 
25th Edward III f. For the treason which was at- 
tempted to be created, by the clause prohibiting the 
acknowledgment of the legitimacy of Monmouth, by 
writing, printing, preaching, or advised speaking, there 
was a precedent in the 13th Elizabeth, chap. 1, which 
made it treason to affirm (during the Queen's life) that 
her Majesty had not a right to the Crown. And by a 
subsequent law, the 6th Anne, chap. 7. sec. 1. the 
acknowledgment of the Pretender's right, by printing or 
writing, is made treason ; and by preaching, teaching, 
or advised speaking, the person incurred the penalty 
of a premunire, attended with forfeiture of all his goods, 
and was subjected to imprisonment. 

Mr. Fox arraigns Ralph for unjustly accusing 
Burnet of inaccuracy, when in truth that fault was 
justly imputable to both these authors ; but the latter 
has the most to answer for. Burnet calls it a " Bill 
" for declaring Treasons;" Ralph says there was no 
such bill. Not finding the title in the Journals, nor 

* See Mr. Justice Blackstone's Exposition of this, 5th edition, Oxford, 
1773, p. 81. 
■{• Lord Coke's Institutes, part 3, p. 4 to 8. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 157 

any such act among the statutes, nor a syllable in the section 

debates about it, it is not very surprising he should fall 

into the mistake he did. The bill was ordered to be 
brought into the House of Commons, on the delivery 
of the King's message respecting the Duke of Mon- 
mouth's landing*; and was intituled, as in Mr. Fox's 
Appendix, " a Bill for the preservation of the Person 
" and Government of his Gracious Majesty King 
" James the Second/' On the main point, however, 
Ralph was correct in asserting that if any clause to the 
effect stated was offered, it was by way of supplement 
to the bill ; because both the clauses objected to by 
Mr. Fox were certainly added to the bill, after it was 
in the House of Commons. He says, on the authority 
of the Bishop, it was warmly opposed by Serjeant 
Maynard ; which may be true, but no trace of a 
discussion upon it can anywhere be found : and the 
Serjeant was the member first named to bring in the 
clause, " that none shall move, in either House of 
" Parliament, for alteration of the succession of the 
" Crown in the right line-f;" which was adopted 
by the House, with a provision to make the offence 
treason J. 

Mr. Fox has not told us for which of our modern 
statutes this bill was used as a model; and it will be 

* Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. ix. p. 735. Altered after- 
wards to " An Act for the better Preservation of his Majestye's Person 
" and Government." 

,f Ibid. p. 750. ± Ibid. p. 73 1, a. 



158 OBSERVATIONS, &C. 



SECTION 
IV. 



difficult for any one to shew such an instance. It is 
not necessary, therefore, to enter here on a considera- 
tion whether, in any late acts of Parliament, the 
provisions therein went beyond the necessity of the 
case ; which were intended solely against persons who 
were attempting to overturn the constitution of Great 
Britain, and to let loose on this land, which has 
happily escaped them, all the horrors of the French 
Revolution. 



SECTION THE FIFTH. 



CONTENTS. 



Introductory Remarks respecting Sir Patrick Hume, and his Narrative 
now published of the Transactions in the Expedition under the Earl of 
Argyle. — Similarity in the Sufferings of that Nobleman and the Marquis 
of Montrose. — Torture practised in Scotland, but never in England. — 
Monmouth's Invasion. — His Views. — Occurrences in Holland, 
previous to his Embarkation. — His Conduct from the Time he was 
made a Prisoner to his Execution. — Further Particulars of Sir Patrick 
Hume. 



SECTION THE FIFTH. 



JVln. Fox's third chapter, to which the two others section 

appear rather as an introduction, is taken up entirely "" 

with his account of the enterprizes of the Duke of 
Monmouth and the Earl of Argyle; in his eulogiums 
on both of whom he exerts his utmost eloquence. It 
is this section of his book, as observed in the intro- 
duction, that gave occasion to the present publication : 
but here little opportunity will be afforded for the 
exercise of industry ; because in the narrative of Sir 
Patrick Hume, comprising every thing material that 
passed relative to the expedition to Scotland, will be 
found a complete justification of him from the charges 
unjustly made against him for faction, cowardice, and 
treachery, to which Mr. Fox has given currency. 
y 2 



]64 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section Sir p a t r ick Hume and Sir John Cochrane (for the 

injustice of the censure applies equally to both) are first accused of 
bSES 4 "* having deserted the Earl * ; afterwards with being " his 
" greatest enemies, both to betray and to destroy him ; 
" and finally, with being the greatest cause of his rout, 
" and of his being taken ; though not designedly, but 
" by ignorance, cowardice, and faction ~\." The im- 
probability of such conduct having been pursued by a 
man, who was represented by all his cotemporaries to 
possess the most amiable and valuable qualities, should 
have obtained for him the protection of a candid 
inquiry. His courage, as well as his fortitude, and 
patience under sufferings {, underwent the severest 
discipline ; for moral conduct in all relations of life, 
and the strictest attention to all the duties of religion, 
as well as for the sweetness of his disposition, he was 
most exemplary ; and his patriotism had been proved 
under repeated and hard trials. 

The narrative, addressed to his wife, which has been 
laid by for much more than a century, would not now 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 193. -f- Ibid. p. 197, 198. 

% The account of his concealment under the church at Polwarth, after 
the execution of Lord Russel and Sydney, and of the privations of himself 
arid family in Holland, till he returned to this country with King William, 
is given with so much simplicity, as well as apparent truth, by Lady 
Murray, and reflects so much credit on the writer for her innocence and 
affectionate attachment to her grandfather, that the inserting it in the 
Appendix could not be resisted. 

6 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 165 

have met the public eye, but to protect his memory section 
from the heavy accusation already alluded to, adopted 
m a work, the name of the author of which ensured its 
being universally read : from whom, it may safely be 
said, it should not have received countenance, without 
the most plain and positive authority. Some regard 
for such a character might reasonably have been 
looked for, in any case r from his fairness and candour; 
especially on the ground already stated, of his declared 
determination to scrutinize with care every fact to 
which he should allude. In this instance we had a 
peculiar right to expect his adherence to that resolu- 
tion ; because " the inquiries concerning the seizure 
" and execution of the Earl of Argyle" are selected 
by his. noble editor, " as an example of cautious and 
" guarded exactness:" in reading the narrative of 
which, Lord Holland says, " the advantages derived 
" by Mr. Fox, from the circumstantial minuteness of 
" his materials,, will not be found less striking than his 
" diligence in procuring and analyzing them *." It is 
however acknowledged,, he did not find even the MS. 
to which he refers -f : the cruel imputation, therefore, 
to which currency is thus given, against this most 
respectable man,, whose public virtue is admitted in 
unqualified terms, rests solely on the authority of an 

* Introduction to Mr. Fox's. Historical Work, p. 23. 
f. Historical Work,. p. 208. 214* 



166 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V. 



author, high in his esteem, but altogether unsupported. 
If Mr. Fox had found leisure for the investigation, to 
which we must believe he was disposed, we should not 
have had reason to lament the little advantage derived 
to the public from his eagerness to trace all informa- 
tion to its original source ; of which, it must be 
acknowledged, there are few symptoms in the whole 
work, except some additional letters to and from 
Barillon, in the } r ear 1685, which throw no new light 
on any one interesting transaction : and yet there are 
undoubtedly many valuable papers, well worthy of the 
euriosity of the public, which would have considerably 
elucidated the history of his short period, that have not 
been published, and have been seen probably by verv 
few except those in whose possession they are. To 
have acquired a title to superior correctness for his 
work, Mr. Fox should have used his best endeavour to 
have had access to these, and explored every source of 
information not yet given to the world ; or at least to 
have carefully examined and compared every thing 
already printed, respecting the subjects on which he 
wrote. 

Of some important documents left by the Lord 
Treasurer, notice has been already taken : not less 
curious papers were, a few years ago, in the possession 
of a descendant of another member of the ministry 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 167 

called the Cabal * : to none of which is there any section 

allusion ; nor indeed, as already observed, even to ~ — ' 

authorities accessible to every one. 

What endeavours were used by Mr. Fox to inspect 
the papers of the family of Argyle is not particularly* 
stated; but there is no appearance of his having either 
seen those, or any belonging to the Cochrane family : 
and the presumption is strong, that he obtained no 
information from either. It is certain no inquiry was 
made respecting the Marchmont papers. If there had, 
no political differences of opinion would have pre- 
vented the author of these sheets, in whose possession 
they are, from putting into Mr. Fox's hands copies of 
such as would have been likely to be useful in an 
historical work ; least of all, such as would have had a 
tendency, to shew the character of the man ennobled 
and raised to great dignities by the deliverer of this 
country, in the amiable and respectable light to which 
it is well entitled. The narrative now made public, it 
will be seen, . ends with the defeat of himself and the 
few friends with him at. the Miiir Dyke. 

In the determination taken by the parties, who met 
in Holland, to invade the different parts of this island, 
there was probably a mixed consideration for the 
public and for themselves; which , was perfectly 
natural, considering the oppression they had suffered 

* The late Earl of Shaftesbury, which were then seen by the author. 



168 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section as individuals, and the tyranny they were very sure, 

from experience of James's former conduct, would be 

inflicted on their country. They were apparently in- 
duced to the immediate adoption of it, by a persuasion 
that the oppressive conduct of James, while Duke 
of York, and his known bigotry, would bring multi- 
tudes to their standard, as soon as it should be raised ; 
and that they should be joined by other persons of 
consideration ; for they could not have proceeded on 
any good information of the state of the country, and 
of the minds of the people on the accession of James, 
whose former proceedings seem to have been forgotten 
for a time ; and it is quite clear from what followed 
that if they had waited only a (ew months, till he had 
developed the whole of his character, on which he had 
put some restraint during his brother's life, his head- 
strong conduct would have afforded them a much fairer 
prospect of success. 

The numbers and rank of the individuals who 
first engaged were inconsiderable. Those who met 
on the 17th of April at Amsterdam did not exceed 
twelve in number * ; and, except the Earl of Argyle, 
the only persons above the rank of private gentlemen 
were Sir John Cochrane and Sir Patrick Hume. The 
undertaking was intended by them, in the terms of 
their association, " in the defence and for the recovery 

* See page 34 of Sir Patrick Hume's Narrative. 



MR. pox's historical work. 16*9 

" of the religion, rights, and liberties of the kingdom S ^ C J I0N 

" of Scotland/' And they resolved " to make war ' 

" against James Duke of York and Albany, and such 
" as shall adhere to him ; and for the command of the 
" army they shall be able to gather together, they 
" unanimously appoint Archibald Earl of Argyle to 
*' the office of Captain General *." 

"With respect to all that happened after this, the 
narrative will be found very full ; the author of which 
gave early proofs how regardless he was of his own 
liberty and fortune, when contending in the public 
cause : he must, therefore, be a severe judge of the 
actions of men, who would impute to him an unworthy 
motive for embarking in the undertaking. During the 
oppressions of the High Commission Court, illegally 
created in Scotland in 1665, at that time repre- 
sentative in Parliament for the shire of Berwick, (his 
native county,) he was imprisoned without cause 
assigned, and remained in close confinement for some 
years. In the beginning of September, 1675, he was 
again imprisoned by the Council, for having supported 
a refusal of the contributions arbitrarily levied on the 
country for the support of the garrisons in the shires, 
and for setting up a defence for his conduct in the 

* Crookshank's History of the Church of Scotland, Vol. ii. chap. 13. 
p. 369. 



]70 OBSERVATIONS ON 



V. 



section courts of law : of which imprisonment, in the end of 
that month, his Majesty approved ; " Polwarth being 
" a factious person, and having done what may usher 
" in confusion; requiring the Council, therefore, to 
" declare him incapable of all public trust, and to 
" send him close prisoner to Stirling Castle, till further 
" orders *." He was first confined in the Tolbooth at 
Edinburgh, from whence he was removed to the castle 
of Dumbarton : and in February, 1679, a letter was 
received by the Council, ordering Sir Patrick Hume to 
be sent under a strong guard from that castle to 
Stirling; from whence he was liberated, by a letter 
from the King, in July following :— reciting that he 
had been imprisoned " for reasons known to his 
" Majesty, and tending to secure the public peace; 
" and now the occasion of suspicion and public 
" jealousy being over, he is ordered to be liberated -fv^ 

* Records of the Council. 

•j- Ibid. And in a letter from the Earl to Mr. Baillie of Jarviswood, of 
March 16th, 1716-17, he says, " If I remember right, my Lady Orkney 
«' is either daughter or sister to the Earl of Jersey, and by the mothd is 
** come of the Earl of Suffolk's family ; and if so, is a descendant from 
" George Hume Earl of Dunbar, whose daughter the family of Suffolk 
«• is come of; and my great grandmother was a sister of his father: so 
" my grandfather Sir Patrick and the Earl of Dunbar were cousin 
" germans. It was upon that relation that my Lady Northumberland, a 
M sister of Suffolk, concerned herself so earnestly, and prevailed with 
*« King Charles the Second for my enlargement, after long imprisonment 
" upon frivolous pretences against me j for appearances which I made for 



AIR. FOX^S HISTORICAL WORK. 171 

The narrative carries us on to the separation of Sir section 
Patrick Hume and others from the Earl of Argyle; ' 

from which time, till the Earl's final defeat, nothing 
occurs in which there can be a ground for differing 
from Mr. Fox : and it would not be thought worth 
while to make any remark on Mr. Fox's observation 
respecting what passed on the taking of Argyle, except 
on the ground already noticed, that the whole of this 
case was selected by his noble editor to prove his 
industry in investigating facts. Mr. Fox tells us, 
*' that he takes no notice of the story, by which the 
" Earl is made to exclaim " unfortunate Argyle !" 
" and thus to discover himself: besides that there is 
" no authority for it, it has not the air of a real fact, 
" but rather resembles a clumsy contrivance in some 
" play *." That fact is, however, distinctly stated in 
a paper printed at Edinburgh -f-, immediately on the 
Earl being taken : but although that might happen not 
to be known to Mr. Fox, it might have occurred to 
him to look into the Gazettes of the time, where he 
would have found precisely the same statement J-. 

" preventing a Papist succeeding to the Crown, as generally all consi- 
" derate persons construed it. Let me know if that Lady Northumberland 
'* be still alive. I waited upon her at Sion House, when King William 
« lodged a night there." 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 195. 

f In the possession of the author. 

X London Gazette, No. 2045, J une 22d t0 2 S th » l68 5' 



172 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V. 



Some weight is given by Mr. Fox fo the Earl's silence 
respecting the anecdote, in his own narrative of the 
transaction ; but it is surely not extraordinary that, in 
giving the account of his being taken, he should not 
think it worth while to mention such an exclama- 
tion *. No man, it is believed, could place himself in 
the situation of the Earl, and suppose him repeating 
this soliloquy in a narrative of the transactions at a 
future period. 

The indignation expressed by Mr. Fox at the cruel 
and unmanly treatment of Argyle, after he was taken, 
js perfectly just and natural. No offence he could 
have committed could justify his having been led 
bare-headed, with his hands tied behind his back, 
when he entered Edinburgh, preceded by the common 
hangman ; and carried circuitously to the castle, that 
he might be the more exposed to the insults of the 
vulgar -f. And the commendations are equally just, 
which are bestowed on the equanimity with which he 
bore those indignities, so disgraceful to the author of 
them : — in the whole of which there is a remarkable 
coincidence with what occurred in the case of the 



* Mr. Lalng says, in crossing the Caill at Inchcarnen he was attacked 
and wounded by five others, and in falling exclaimed,. " unfortunate 
« Argyle!" 

t Mr. Fox s Historical Work, p. 195. 



mr. fox's historical work. 173 



Marquis of Montrose, whose courage, Mr. Fox says, 
" was more turbulent ; that of Argyle more calm and 
" sedate *." 

This is the only mention made of that distinguighed 
nobleman in the work before us, although he lived in 
the period of Mr. Fox's introductory chapter. Mr. 
Hume, who charges him with letting loose the whole 
rage of war on Argyle's country, (occasioned, it is 
believed, by the ungovernable conduct of his Irish and 
Highland soldiers,) says of him, " Thus perished, in the 
" thirty-eighth year of his age, the gallant Marquis of 
" Montrose ; the man whose military genius both by 
" valour and conduct had shone forth beyond any, 
" which during the civil disorders had appeared in the 
" three kingdoms. The finer arts, too, in his youth 
" he had successfully cultivated ; and whatever was 
" sublime, elegant, or noble, touched his great soul. 
" Nor was he insensible to the pleasures either of 
" society or of love. Something, however, of the vast 
" and unbounded characterized all his actions and 
" deportment : and it was merely by an heroic act of 
" duty that he brought his mind, impatient of su- 
" periority, and even of equality, to pay such an 
" unlimited submission to the will of his Sovereign/' 
The character given of him by Clarendon (who could 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 204. 
*Z3 



SECTION 
V. 



1^4 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section no t forgive him for having taken the first covenant) is 

— certainly more admirable than amiable ; but Wishart 

and other cotemporary writers speak of him in the 
highest terms of praise. 

These two great men were alike in their sufferings. 
Argyle was put to death without a trial, as his execu- 
tion took place under a sentence obtained against him 
many years before by most scandalous and unjustifiable 
practices : Montrose was condemned before he even 
reached Edinburgh ; and he never saw his Judges, till 
he was brought before them to hear his sentence 
pronounced. Montrose, too, was made a spectacle of, 
when he was taken. The account given by Carte is, 
" that he was put into a cart, in which a chair was 
" contrived for him to sit on, tied with cords, and 
" bareheaded; the hangman with his bonnet on 
" riding before him, and driving the cart quite through 
" the great street and the public places of the city, 
" though there was a much nearer way to the prison. 
" This was done to shew him a sight to the people, 
" and expose him to their indignities : but when they 
" observed the serenity and cheerfulness of his coun- 
" tenance; the courtesy, temper, and magnanimity, 
" that he shewed under his misfortunes, it had a coii- 
" trary effect; and the cart stopping some time before 
" the Earl of Murray's house, where, with a meanness 



mr. fox's historical work. 175 

" of spirit scarce to be paralleled, Argyle and the section 

" chief of his faction had placed themselves in the "" " ~ 

" windows and balcony, to feast their eyes with the 
" sight of a man whom they durst not look in the face, 
" while he had a sword in hand, and with a spectacle 
" that gave horror to all good men, his looks and 
" firmness put even those shameless mortals out of 
" countenance *." 

Of the latter part of this account the truth is at least 
extremely questionable, as there is no trace of the 
authority from which it is taken : all the other par- 
ticulars are confirmed by the weekly paper then pub- 
lished by authority *f\ How far the Marquis of Argyle, 
who had then great weight in the opposite faction, 
had it in his power to prevent those indignities, and 
the cruelty of the punishment that followed, is not 
necessary here to be inquired into. His authority was 
certainly great ; for he was the man who, six months 
afterwards, was appointed by the Estates of Parliament 
at Edinburgh to place the Crown of Scotland on the 
head of Charles, under whose commission Montrose 
acted, and for whose cause he bled. In a paper 
printed at the time by authority at Edinburgh J, 

* Carte, Vol. iv. p. 629. 

f In the possession of the author No. 25, from Monday May 7th to 
Monday June 3d, 1650. 

% In the possession of the author* 



176 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section giving an account of Charles's coronation, January 1st, 
""" 1650, there is the following passage : " At which time 
" the Crown was held before the King, three ministers 
" of the assembly being present ; then the King 
" turned himself to be seen of the people, who cried 
" with a great noise, God save King Charles the 
" Second ■! and then he had the Crown put upon his 
" head by the Marquis of Argyle, and he took the 
" sceptre in his hand, and the sword he gave to a Lord 
" of Scotland to bear it before him." 

A very strong proof of the opinion the Marquis had 
of his own influence and authority in Scotland at the 
period, is furnished by Lord Dartmouth, in one of his 
MS. notes on Burnet's History. " When the King 
" came to Scotland, the Marquis of Argyle made 
" great professions of duty to him ; but said, he would 
" not serve him as he desired, unless he gave some 
" undeniable proof of a fixed resolution to support the 
" Presbyterian party, which he thought would be best 
" done by marrying into some family of quality, that 
" was known to be entirely attached to that interest : 
" which would in great measure take oft' the prejudices 
" both kingdoms had to him, upon his mother's 
" account, who was extremely odious to all good 
" Protestants: and thought his own daughter would 
" be the properest match for him, not without some 
" threats if he did not accept the offer; which the 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 177 



" King told Colonel Legge, who was the only person 
" about him that he could trust with the secret*. 
" The Colonel said, it was plain the Marquis looked 
" upon his Majesty to be absolutely in his power, or 
" he durst not have made such a proposal ; therefore, 
" it would be necessary to gain time, till he could get 
" out of his hands, by telling him he could come to no 
" conclusion, in an affair of that nature, before he had 
" acquainted the Queen his mother, who was always 
" known to have a very particular esteem for the 
" Marquis and his family, but would never forgive 
" such an omission. But that was an answer far from 
" satisfying the Marquis, who suspected Colonel Legge 
" had been the adviser, and committed him the next 
" day to the castle of Edinburgh ; where he continued 
" till the King made his escape from St. Johnstoun, 
" upon which he was released : the Marquis finding it 
" necessary to give the King more satisfaction than he 
" had done before that time f." 



* If credit is to be given to Voltaire, the spirit of Charles was so 
broken two years afterwards, suffering under the severest privations in 
1652, as to induce him to propose to Cardinal Mazarin to marry one of 
his nieces, which was rejected by the Cardinal ; but who, three years 
afterwards, would have encouraged it, when difficulties were opposed to 
it by the Queen Dowager. 

f Lord Dartmouth's manuscript note on Burnet's History, Vol. i. 
p. 57, 17th line from bottom. 

A A 



SECTION 
V. 



178 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section »phis conc i uc t of the Marquis, even if the account of 

it were entitled to the highest degree of credit, would 

not afford the slightest possible justification for the 
cruelties and indignities offered to his son : but when 
it is considered to what a height the passions and 
resentments of men of both parties were worked up by 
revenge and enthusiasm at that period, we shall be the 
less surprised at what was inflicted on the Earl of 
Argyle, than if we had not adverted to what had 
happened to the Marquis of Montrose, and to the 
power of Argyle's father at the time. 

In the warrant for the Earl's execution, the words, 
" that you take all ways to know from him those 
" things which concern our government most/' in- 
duced Mr. Fox to believe it was intended to apply 
torture, to extort a declaration from him of who his 
secret accomplices were ; but it certainly was not 
applied *. It is true, however, that torture had been 
in common use in Scotland, in the period treated of: 
for, besides the particular instances mentioned by the 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 305, and 206. A few pages before 
(190) it is stated, he is told he is to be put to the torture; for which, 
however, no authority is quoted : but credit is given him, that on the 
communication he neither breaks out into any high-sounding bravado* 
any premature vaunts of the resolution with which he will endure it ; 
nor, on the other hand, into passionate exclamations on the cruelty of 
his enemies. 



mr. fox's historical work. 179 

historians, Mr. Hume, in his Commentaries on the section 

Law of Scotland, concludes one of his chapters with 

the following observations : " It was chiefly about that 

" period, and in support of the measures of the 

" King's ministers against the deluded Covenanters,— 

" measures equally violent and impolitic, — that our 

" practice came to be stained with the more frequent 

" use of this unjust and barbarous engine, for the dis- 

" covery of transgressions : and to so great a length was 

" the inquiry carried in those days, that confessions 

" obtained in this way were made use of as an evi- 

" dence in modum adminiculi, towards the conviction 

" even of third parties : the confession of William 

" Carstairs, for instance, against Baillie of Jervis- 

" wood *." Two cases of the sort occur so late as in 

the reign of William the Third ; but in both of these 

the directions for applying the torture are express and 

positive. The first warrant is signed by the members 

of the Council, among whom is the son of this Earl of 

Argyle; the other is signed by the King, containing 

this clause : " And particularly we do require you to 

" examine Neville ,Penn strictly ; in case he prove 

" obstinate or disingenuous, you proceed against him 

" to torture with all the rigour that the law allows in 

" such cases -(-." After the entry of which order 

follows the proceeding, shewing " that the prisoner 

* Hume's Commentaries, Vol. ii. chap. 12. p. 117 to 119. 
f Records of the Scotch Privy Council, December 10th, 1690. 
A A 2 



180 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section « was p ut to ^g torture of the thumbickens f and, 

" being examined upon several interrogatories, an- 

" swered to the whole negative * :" after which he was 
ordered to be kept a close prisoner. 

It is evident, therefore, that Scotland did not derive 
from the Revolution such an amelioration of its laws as 
might have been expected. The Committee of Estates, 
at that period, went no farther than to complain of 
torture as unlawful, when used without evidence, or in 
the case of ordinary crimes ; and it was not till after 
the Union that it was forbidden by law f. 

That such means of extorting confession should, in 
early times, have been used in countries where the 
law was analogous to the civil law, by which torture is 
permitted, is not very wonderful ; but it appears extra- 
ordinary that the practice should have been con- 
tinued in Scotland for a century after the union of 
the two Crowns, considering the abhorrence in which 
it was always held in England. So early in our 
history as the reign of Alfred, it is recorded that he 
punished one of his Judges with death, for passing 

* His name was Neville Payne, supposed to be a spy on both sides. 
It was to him that George Duke of Buckingham addressed his Essay 
upon Reason and Religion. Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, 
Vol. ii. p. 80. The warrant and the proceedings will be found in the 
Appendix. 

f Stat. 7th Anne, chap. 21. 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 181 

Sentence, on a confession extorted by torture before the section 
coroner *. To the law of England it has been declared '" 

by the highest authority to be utterly unknown. The 
only attempt to exercise it here to be met with (ex- 
cept when a design was laid to introduce the civil 
law in the reign of Henry the Sixth) was a proposition 
made in Council by Laud, then Bishop of London, to 
have Felton " put to the rack," for the murder of the 
Duke of Buckingham : but the King being present, 
he desired " the advice of the Judges might be had 
" therein, before any thing should be done, whether it 
" be legal or no f and the answer of the Judges 
thereto was, every one assenting, " that the prisoner 
" ought not by the law to be tortured by the rack ; for 
" no such punishment is known or allowed by our 
" law-f." And, when after sentence of death was 
passed on that wild enthusiast for the horrid crime of 
which he had been convicted, he voluntarily tendered 
the hand to be cut off with which it had been com- 
mitted, the Court refused to inflict that further punish- 
ment upon him : in which refusal the Judges persisted, 
notwithstanding the King sending to desire the am- 
putation might take place before execution J. 

* In the eagerness of this Monarch to ensure a due administration of 
the law, many Justices were hanged in one year as homicides^ for their 
false judgments. Lord Coke, 3d Institute, 234. 

■fc Rushworth's Collection, Vol. i. p. 638. $ Ibid. p. 640. 



182 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V. 



On the whole, upon the most attentive consideration 
of every thing that has been written on the subject, 
there does not appear to have been any intention of 
applying torture in the case of the Earl of Argyle. 

In this part of the suffering, the Marquis of Montrose 
did not escape quite so well : for although there was 
no order to inflict torture upon him in the regular way, 
his sentence was so drawn as to subject him to it ; and 
it was so executed. His sentence was, " that he 
" should be brought to the place of execution by two 
" of the clock, and there hanged upon a gibbet of six 
" ells and a half high ; the gibbet to be with a pulley, 
" and a scaffold made about it : and being brought to 
" the place, he was to be haltered by the hangman, 
" and so pulled up by the neck to the top of the 
" scaffold ; and then not hang him thoroughly, to see 
" whether he would confess any thing or no : and in 
" close of all, the scaffold with a device is to be taken 
" asunder, and so let him hang, and pull him up to the 
" head of the gibbet, and so to be let down by degrees, 
" and give a jerk now and then : and being quite 
" dead, he was to be tied up for three hours, and then 
" his head to be severed, &c." The further account 
given is, " all the time the sentence was giving, and 
" also when he was executed, he seemed to be no way 
" altered, or his spirit moved ; but his speech was full 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 183 



" of composure, and his carriage sweet*." Carte 
says, " the sentence was executed in every part and 
" circumstance, with all the inhumanity imaginable ; 
" and he bore it with all the courage and magnanimity 
" of an hero, and with the greatest piety that a good 
** Christian could manifest -f." 

We tread with reverence on the ashes of the dead : 
it might otherwise not be difficult to shew that Argyle 
was not altogether the hero which Mr. Fox's partiality 
has made him. His amiable disposition in private 
life, his gentleness and equanimity, we are perfectly 
disposed to allow ; but his talents do not appear to 
have been of that commanding kind, which fitted him 
to conduct an enterprize so important and so hazardous 
as that in which he was engaged. His bravery was 
not always guided by discretion: that decision, which 
is so essential a quality in the leader of a great enter- 
prize, yielded in him rather to the changes of his own 
opinion than to that deference to the opinions of 
others, which conciliates a man's associates in public 
undertakings. The smallness of the party which he 
was able to attach to his fortunes, in addition to those 
who embarked with him in Holland, marks of itself 

* Account licensed by the secretary of the army under his Excellency 
the Lord Fairfax, in the possession of the author* 
t Carte, Vol. iv. p, 630. 



SECTION 
V. 



184 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section t jj e distrust of his ability to conduct them ; and from 

his landing in Orkney to his final discomfiture, his 

measures seem to have been adopted without any plan 
to ensure their success, or to extricate himself and his 
followers, if misfortune should attend them. The 
heroism of his death may, however, excuse Mr. For 
for the warmth of his panegyric; yet, in the short 
comparison which he has introduced between Argyle 
and Montrose, he has resisted the same feeling towards 
the latter nobleman, whose death was not less heroic, 
and whose atchievements were much more brilliant 
than those of the former. If the chivalry of Montrose 
had not been kindled by his attachment to his King, 
as the zeal of Argyle was inflamed by his indignation 
at the abuses of monarchical power, it must have given 
Mr. Fox an opportunity for such eulogium as his- 
torians, even adverse to the Royal cause, have allowed 
to that gallant royalist. 

There remain two other incidents, connected with 
what passed respecting Argyle in his last hours, taken 
notice of by Mr. Fox ; of which, after the most diligent 
search, no trace has been met with, either in a great 
variety of MSS. which have been carefully examined ; 
or in the numerous tracts published at the time ; or in 
cotemporary historians, except Burnet, (quoted by 
Mr. Fox,) for the first, and Woodrow for the latter. 
8 



MR. fox's historical work. 185 

If Argyle had given to Mr. Charteris the caution section. 
stated by the Bishop, " not to try to convince him of 
" the unlawfulness of the attempt, concerning which 
" his opinion was settled, and his mind made up * ;" 
the anecdote would surely have been stated in some of 
the publications at the time, either by his friends or his 
enemies : by the former, to give an opportunity of 
exulting in the Earl's perseverance in what they 
thought a right cause; or by the latter, as a proof of 
his obstinacy in guilt, and as a justification for not 
shewing him mercy. There is, among the publications 
alluded to, " an authenticated narrative" of what passed 
between the Earl and Mr. Charteris ; but not a syl- 
lable in it of the caution from the former to the latter. 

Nor has a trace been found any where of an allusion 
to the other incident of one of the members of the 
Council, on finding the Earl in a sweet sleep a few 
hours before his execution, going away in great agi- 
tation -j-. It must be confessed that this anecdote 
savours rather more of the pen of a tragedian than the 
authenticated one, ridiculed by Mr. Fox, of Argyle's 
exclamation in falling. 

On relating this anecdote, Mr. Fox admits that as 
the name of the Counsellor is not mentioned, " the 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 200. f Ibid. p. 207. 

B B 



186 OBSERVATIONS OK 

section « truth of it may fairly be considered as liable to 

" that degree of doubt, with which men of judg- 

" ment receive every species of traditional history f 
especially when they are such as the best affections 
of the mind are gratified in relating, and willing to 
believe. The absence of all evidence whatever of 
so interesting an incident, except the statement of 
Woodrow, who says he had it from an unquestionable 
authority, without referring to whom, certainly affords 
a strong ground for doubt*. Woodrow was a re- 
spectable man, but a zealous partizan ; and we find, 
from daily experience, that when an author is desirous 
of believing a fact himself, he will give credit to an 
authority which on another occasion he would not 
rely on. In this instance, the circumstances of the 
case appear to render the story extremely improbable. 
It is easy to imagine a person being strongly affected 
at seeing an amiable man, possessed of great public 
and private virtue, in a tranquil slumber just before he 
is going to suffer a punishment, which the witness of 
his heroism conceives to be just; but it is not so easy 
to imagine what self-condemnation could have created 
so violent an agitation in the mind of the spectator 
here, as is described by Woodrow, and which has given 

* In many of the tracts published at the time, as well as in die State 
Trials, mention is made of Argyle sleeping quietly after his dinner, and 
just before his execution ; but no allusion to a Counsellor looking in upon 
him, as far as the author's research has gone. 



MR. FQXS HISTORICAL WORK. 187 

occasion for such an exertion of Mr. Fox's eloquence, section 

" What a satisfactory spectacle to a philosophical 

" mind, to see the oppressor in the zenith of his power 
" envying his victim ! What an affecting and forcible 
" testimony to the value of that peace of mind which 
" innocence alone can confer ! We know not who 
" this man was ; but when we reflect that the guilt 
" which agonized him was probably incurred for the 
" sake of some vain title, &c. our disgust is turned into 
" something like compassion *." All this would have 
been very natural in the case of a tyrant, who, by the 
exercise of his power, was about to put an innocent 
man to death ; but here the person supposed to have 
been violently agitated was a member of the Council, 
acquiescing in the command of the King for the execu- 
tion of an eminent leader, who (putting out of the 
question the sentence unjustly obtained against him, 
under which he was to suffer) was taken in open 
rebellion against his lawful Sovereign, and of whose 
guilt no human being entertained the slightest doubt. 

If we suppose this Counsellor to have weighed 
exactly all the atrocious circumstances of Argyle's 
conviction in 1682, and to have felt that disgust which 
would naturally be attendant thereupon ; still the 
execution of a man, notoriously guilty of high treason, 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 308. 

bb2 



]88 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section W ould not be likely to have excited exactly the same 
sensation as the murder of an innocent man *. 



This view of the subject we cannot entirely put out 
of our consideration, however the motives of those 
who were actors in the.enterprize may be approved of, 
but which Mr. Fox's zeal seems to have made him 
disregard entirely ; for, in describing the situation of 
Argyle, when it was becoming desperate, he calls the 

* In a collection of State Tracts, privately printed in the reign of Charles 
the Second, and published after the Revolution, in the possession of the 
author, there is an account of all the proceedings in the trial of Argyle in 
1682, in which are the following passages : " It was by some remarked, 
" that when the Lords of Justiciary, after the ending of the first day's 
« debate, resolved that same night to give judgment upon it, they sent 
" for the Lord Nairn, one of their number, an old and infirm man, who, 
«• being also a Lord of the Session, is so decayed through age, that he 
" hath not for a considerable time been allowed to take his turn in the 
" Outer House (as they call it), where they judge lesser causes alone: 
" but, notwithstanding both his age and infirmity, and that he was gone 
" to bed, he was raised, and brought to the Court to consider a debate, 
" a great deal whereof he had not heard, in full Court ; and with all as 
" is informed, while the clerk was reading some of it, fell of new asleep. 
" It was also remarked that the Lords of Justiciar)', being in all five, viz. 
" the Lords Nairn, Collintoun, Newtown, Kirkhouse, and Ferret, the 
" libel was found relevant only by the odds of three to two, viz. the 
" Lord Nairn aforesaid, and the Lord Newtown, sir.ee made President 
" of the Session, and the Lord Ferret, both well enough known ; against 
" the Lord Collintoun, a very ingenious gentleman and true old cavalier, 
" and the Lord Kirkhouse, a learned and upright Judge. As for the 
«• Lord Justice General, who was also present and presided, his vote, 
« according to the constitution of the Court, was not asked." Volume 
of Tracts, p. 209. 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 189 

regular soldiers and militia pursuing the persons so in section 
arms against the King " authorized assassins * \" — 

To what a state must that country be reduced, 
when every soldier who takes up a musquet in defence 
of a legitimate Prince shall be considered as an 
assassin, if that Prince shall in any instance have 
exceeded the just limits of his prerogative ! In every 
civil war, the vanquished must necessarily undergo 
unmerited sufferings, if that epithet may be applied to 
punishments justified by the necessity of the case, not 
by the guilt of the sufferer. In this situation of things, 
there is a guilt against the existing government, though 
the creed and the conscience of the sufferer may 
pronounce his actions not only innocent but meri- 
torious. Rebellion is generally justice and patriotism 
in the belief of the rebel ; it is the business of history 
to examine its title to those attributes : but in such 
examination, impartial history is not to forget the 
probable motives or feelings of that party, with whose 
political opinions those of the author do not accord. 
This part of an historian's duty Mr. Fox seems to have 
overlooked. He is the accuser rather than the judge 
of every man attached to the government of the time. 
It should, however, be recollected, that of those men 
many were the patriots of a future period, when the 
full measure of the Monarch's tyrannical usurpation 

* Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 188. 



190 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V. 



made resistance a duty paramount to every considera- 
tion of personal or public danger. 

Whatever James's conduct might have been as Duke 
of York, he had, at the time of Argyle's invasion, done 
no one act in the least degree blameable, except that 
of levying his brother's revenue by his own authority ; 
which the Parliament on its meeting, as we have 
already noticed, was so far from resenting, that they 
passed the grant of it, from the death of Charles, with 
unanimity. 

Before entering on the subject of the Duke of 
Monmouth's invasion, we have again occasion to 
lament the want of materials on the part of Mr. Fox ; 
as a paper obtained from the Buccleugh family, which 
will be found in the Appendix, contains some informa- 
tion of what passed in the few last days of this un- 
fortunate man. This omission is the more remarkable, 
as the descendants of the Duke of Monmouth might 
have easily occurred as likely to have some documents 
in their possession respecting him. 

What the views of Monmouth were, previous to his 
embarkation, it is very difficult to ascertain. Mr. Fox 
says, " It is not rashly to be believed that he, who has 
" never been accused of hardened wickedness, c. uki 
" have been upon such terms with, and so have 

2 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 191 

" behaved to, persons whom he purposed to disappoint section 
" in their dearest and best-grounded hopes, and to ■ 

" defraud of their inheritance/' That he had any such 
deliberate intention, while he was in Holland, is not in 
the least probable. On that part of the subject con-- 
siderable light is thrown by Sir Patrick Hume's Nar- 
rative. It will be seen that to him and others he 
disclaimed it: at first, conditionally; but on being 
pressed for a clear answer, that might be repeated, 
he gave satisfactory assurances to Sir Patrick, and the 
others who attended him ; telling them, however, at 
the same time, he considered himself as the lawful son 
of King Charles, and that he had lately been able to 
prove the marriage*. From what passed at the 
meetings between the Duke and the Scotch gentlemen, 
there is some appearance of an intention eventually to 
claim the Crown not having been entirely out of the 
mind of Monmouth, till he found there was a danger 
of their splitting upon that point ; and it was perhaps 
owing to the persuasion he had of his legitimacy, and 
to the suggestion thrown out to Sir Patrick of the 

* It is extremely difficult to account for this, because Charles the 
Second, on being dissatisfied with the conduct of the Duke of Monmouth, 
in 1678, made a solemn declaration in Council, which by his order was 
enrolled in Chancery, that he never was married, nor gave any contract 
to any woman whatever, but to his wife Queen Catherine ; a copy of 
which enrollment will be found in the Appendix. See the note at the 
bottom of p. 13 of Sir Patrick Hume's Narrative; referring to letters of 
the Princess of Orange to Charles the Second, in which she mentions 
his wife, during his exile. 



192 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section possibility of his declaring himself King, giving fur- 

*?. """ therance to the general cause, that he allowed himself 

to be prevailed with to adopt that measure, within a 
few days after his landing in England. In the paper 
in the Appendix *, Monmouth is made to declare to 
James, in his interview with him, that he had no pre- 
determined intention to assume the royal authority ; 
and to ascribe his having done so to Ferguson, as 
]\lr. Fox does f. 

While Monmouth was at the Hague, immediately 
before the death of Charles, he was treated with very 
marked attention and kindness by the Prince and 
Princess of Orange ; respecting which D'Avaux, who 
could have no motive for misstating facts in this 
instance to his own Court, mentions circumstances not 
easily to be mistaken. On the 9th of January, 1685, 
he writes to Lewis the Fourteenth : " Le Prince 
" d'Orange ne se donna pas le loisir d'attendre le 
" succes de la negociation du sicur Citters pour fairc 
" venir a la Haye le Due de Monmouth ; aussi parois- 
" soit-il n'avoir domic ccs instructions a ce ministrc 
" que par maniere d'acquit, pour satisfairc aux rc- 
" montrances de Milord Halifax. II a done prie 
" Monsieur de Monmouth de venir iaire un tour a 
" la Haye: Monsieur de Monmouth y aniva Samedi 
" a huit heures du soir, comme il etoit attendu. 

* Page [lxvi]. f Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 262. 



MR. fox's historical work, 193 

" Benting ne manqua pas de Taller trouver a l'h6tel- sec ™n 

" lerie, et l'emmena chez le Prince d'Orange qui le 

" reput avec de grandes demonstrations de joie. Le 

" Due de Monmouth monta quelque terns apres dans 

" Tappartement de la Princesse d'Orange. Cette Prim- 

" cesse ne vouloit point recevoir de visite parcequ'il 

<s riy avois pas une dame de la Haye qui fut venue 

" chez elle, a cause que e'etoit la Veille de la Cene, 

" et qu'elle etoit deja a demi deshabillee, mais le 

" Prince d'Orange l'obligea de s'habiller, et d'aller 

66 dans sa chambre d'audience pour y recevoir Mon- 

" sieur de Monmouth ; il monta lui-m^me incontinent 

" apres, et le pria de vouloir bien loger dans l'hotel du 

'* Prince Maurice, et lui offrit tons ses domestiques 

" pour Yy servir. On ne peut assez s'etonner ici de 

" cette nouvelle demarche du Prince d'Orange ; et on 

" ne comprend point comment, dans le lneme terns 

" qu'il fait assurer le Roi d'Angleterre qu'il a aban- 

" donne Monsieur de Monmouth, il le fait venir a la 

" Haye, et lui fait tant de caresses," 

On the 11 th of January : " Le Prince d'Orange 
" continuoit toujours d'accabler le Due de Monmouth 
" de caresses, et lui qui est flegmatique, et qui n'aime 
" aucun divertissement, encore moins celui de la 
" dan«e, passoit ncantmoins quelque fois une partie 
" de la nuit a danser avec les filles de la Princesse 
" d'Orange, et avec le Due de Monmouth. Monsieur 
" Benting, et d'autres amis du Prince d'Orange, disoient 
c c 



}Qi OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V, 



" hautement, que le Prince ne faisoit aucune de- 
" marche a l'egard de Monsieur de Monmouth, que 
" du consentement du Roi de la Grande Bretagne ; et 
** assuroient que dans le voyage que Monsieur de 
" Monmouth, avoit fait en Angleterre, il avoit vu en 
** particulier sa Majeste Britannique." 

On the 18th of January : " Le Prince d'Orange ne 

" savoit quellcs caresses faire au Due de Monmouth ; 

** il y avoit bien souvent de nouveaux bals et de 

" nouvelles parties entr'eux : quatre ou cinq jours 

" auparavant, ils avoient ete en traineau sur la glace, 

" avec la Princesse d'Orange, a une Maison du Prince, 

" qui est a. trois lieus de la Haye ; et lorsque Ion 

" dansoit, e'etoit le Due de Monmouth qui menoit la 

" Princesse d'Orange. II alloit reglement tous les jours 

" au diner de cette Princesse, bien quelle mangeat 

" seule et en jiarticulier ; et ensuite il alloit diner avec 
" le Prince d'Orange. On remarxjua meme que cette 

" Princesse, qui ne sc promenoit jamais a pie dans lea 

" lieux publics, alloit prestjue tous les jours dans le 

" mail, qui est dans un bois ties agreable, aux portes 

" de la Naye, et (pie Monsieur de Monmouth s'y 

M trouvoit fort regulierement ; et on ne comprenoit 

" pas comment le Prince d'Orange, qui est ne le plus 

" jaloux de tous Les hommes, souffroit tous les airs de 

" galanterie, dont tout le monde s'appercevoit, cntje 

" la Princesse d'Orange et Monsieur de Monmouth. 

" On n'etoit pas moins attentif a decouvrir ce que le 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 195 

" Hoi d'Angleterre pensoit de la conduit e du Prince section 

*' d'Orange; et le public suspendoit son jugement, 

" jusqu'a ce qu'il sut les sentimens de sa Majeste 
" Britannique." 

On the 25th of January: " II y nvoit tant d'affec- 
1 tations dans les bons traitcments que le Prince 
" d'Orange faisoit au Due dc Monmouth, qu'il sem- 
" bloit chercher avec plaisir a iusulter au Roi d'Angle- 
" terre. II lui donnoit la meme liberie qu'a Benting, 
" d'entrer a tous niomens dans sa chambre; il ne 
" faisoit gueres de graces qu'a sa recommandation, et 
" personne ne croyoit avoir bien fait sa cour au Prince 
" d'Orange, s'il ne la faisoit aussi a Monsieur le Due 
" de Monmouth; et toutes les personnes les plus quali- 
" fiees de Hollande s'empressoient, a l'envi Tun de 
" l'autre, a le Tegaler. 11 sembloit meme que le Prince 
" d'Orange eut change d'humeur, ou qu'il eut des 
" desseins que Ton ne comprenoit pas; car lui> qui 
" est le plus jaloux du monde (jusques la qu'il ne 
" permet pas que la Princesse d'Orange recoive aucune 
H visite particuliere, non seulement d'aucun homme, 
H mais aussi d'aucune fern me) presse lui-menie Mon- 
" sieur de Monmouth d'aller les apres-dinees chez la 
" Princesse d'Orange pour lui apprendre des contre- 
" danses. lis lui firent m6me faire des personnages 
" qui ne conviennent gueres a une Princesse, et que 
" je dirois qui seroient ridicules pour une femme or* 
" dinaire ; car dans les grandes Gelees qu'il fit cette 
c c 2 



196 OBSERVATIONS OX 

section « annee hi, le Frince d'Orange Tobligea, par la com- 

" " plaisance qu'elle a pour lui, d'apprendre a aller en 

" patins sur la glace, parceque Monsieur de Monmouth 
" vouloit aussi apprendre a y aller. C'etoit une chose 
" fort extraordinaire de voir la Prineesse d'Orange 
" avec des jupes fort courtcs et a demi rctroussecs, ct 
" des patins de fer a ses pies, apprendre a glrsser, 
" tantot sur une pie tantot sur un autre." 

On the 20th of February, on receipt of the letter 
from England announcing the King's death, Monsieur 
D'Avaux writes : " Le Prince d'Orange ne monta 
" point dans la chambre de la Princesse d'Orange on. 
" les dames de la Haye etoient a faire leur cour; il 
" l'envoya prier de descendre, et lui apprit cette 
" nouvelle. Monsieur le Due de Monmouth s'y 
" trouva aussi; ensuite Monsieur de Monmouth se 
" retira chez lui, et ne revint chez le Prince d'Orange 
" qu'a dix hcures du soir. lis demeurercnt eniermes 
" eux deux tous seuls jusqua minuit sonne. Monsieur 
" de Monmouth est parti cette nuit forte secrelement, 
" et pour mieux cacher son depart, il la fait dire ce 
" matin jusqua pros de midi, qu'il dormoit encore. 
" Jai su. que le Prince d'Orange lui a prete de lament. 
" mais pas beaucoup ; e'est apparemment pour les 
" frais de son voyage." On the 'J'id, he corrects a 
mistake he fell into in his preceding letters : " Mon- 
" sieur de Monmouth n'etoit pas parti, commc on 
" Tavoit cru ; ce qui donna lieu a cette nouvelle. fut 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. I£)7 

" qu'il etoit sorti de chez lui ce jour-la devant le jour, section 

" a cinq heures du matin, et etoit alle chez Monsieur 

" Benting, ou il fut toujours enferme, de sorte qu'on 

" ne sut qu'a six heures du soir qu'il etoit encore a la 

" Haye. Je le fis savoir le meme jour a Monsieur de 

" Barillon, car la poste d'Angleterre ne part qua huit 

" heures du soir. Monsieur de Monmouth a etc 

" depuis ce tems-la comme un homme desespere ; on 

" l'a entendu, dans la petite maison ou il loge, faisant 

f* de cris et des lamentations ; on dit qu'il est parti 

"• aujourd'hui entre quatre et cinq heures du matin." 

On the 23d : " Le Prince d'Orange, qui connoit ce qui 

" lui est avantageux dans ce pays-ci, ne s'est pas 

" contente de faire publier ici par ses creatures qu'il 

" avoit repu des lettres fort obligeantes du Roy 

" d'Angleterre; mais il a fait dire sous main a 

" quelques personnes de l'etat que Monsieur de Mon- 

4t mouth ne s'en etoit alle que parce qu'il lui avoit 

" temoigne qu'il ne pouvoit plus a cette heure le laisser 

" a la Haye. Les envoyes d'Angleterre sont bien 

" persuades du contraire, et m'ont dit eux-memes que 

" depuis la nouvelle de la mort du Roi d'Angleterre, 

" jusq'a hier matin qu'est parti le Due de Monmouth, 

" il avoit presque toujours etc enferme avec le Prince 

" d'O range." 

It appears by the life of James the Second written 
by himself, that, in addition to the substance of this 
information, which he naturally would have through 
the Court of Prance, he had been informed of the in- 



198 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section timate friendship between the Prince of Orange and 
~ Monmouth by a Monsieur Monpouleam, a companion 

in their convivial society ; from whom he probably had 
further particulars. But when James communicated 
all he knew on the subject to Charles, it produced only 
an observation, " that it seemed strange how those two 
" should appear so good friends, and agree so well 
" together, as they aimed both at the same thing*." 
At the end of a week from the date of the last of these 
letters from D'Avaux to his Court, Charles was seized 
with a fit of apoplexy, (February 2d,) and died in a 
few days afterwards, when the Prince of Orange of 
course acted with more caution. After the accession 
of James, D'Avaux only mentions suspicions of secret 
meetings between the Prince and Monmouth f ; and 
we hear no more from that ambassador of the habits of 
intimacy between the parties, on which he dwelt so 
much in the latter days of Charles. 

The reflections of James on tlje subject were, that 
<c the Prince of Orange considered him, who was the 
" present possessor, and the Duke of Monmouth, the 
" pretender to the Crown, as equally obstacles to his 
" aims. He, therefore, had been formerly advised by 
" the pensionary Fagel, that his business was to play 
" the one against the other; and that whoever got the 
" better would equally advantage his pretensions. If 
" the Duke of Monmouth succeeded, it would be easy 

* Macphevson, Vol. i. p. 144. f D'Ataux, p. 138. 146. 



MR. fox's historical work. J99; 

" for him, who was a Protestant as well as he, and, irr section 

" the right of his wife the next heir, to shove him out of ' ' 

" the saddle. If, on the contrary, the Duke of Monmouth 
" was worsted, he got rid of a dangerous rival ; and 
"■ was sure all his party would then have recourse to 
" him; which proved afterwards true. This made him, 
" underhand, do all he could to influence this young 
•* man's fury and ambition ; and send him out like a 
" victim to the. slaughter ; playing a sure game him-. 
" self, to whomsoever fortune should give the advanr- 
" tage at present*." 

This reasoning, very natural to a mind like that of 
James, is so entirely opposite to the character main- 
tained by King William through life, to whom no one 
has imputed a crooked or cunning policy except his- 
father-in-law, that it requires but little candour to put 
it aside as. utterly, unworthy of belief. It is infinitely 

* Macpherson, Vol. i. p. 143-. 

Father Orleans, whose partiality to James throughout this part of his 
work is very decided, and whose information was likely to be good, states, 
** Jaques ayant- succede au R'oi son frere a la couronne, entreprit de faire 
f< enlever secretement le Due de Monmouth^ dont ce Prince prevoyoif 
** bien que tot ou tard l'inquietude lui causeroit de l'embarras. Le secret 
" ne put etre si grand, que le Prince d'Orange n'en eut connoissance, et 
" il ne l'eut pas plutot appris, qu'il fit dire a Monmouth par Bentham 
'« son favori et son confident, qu'il se retirat a Bruxelles, et lui fit donner 
" de l'argent." Histoire des Revolutions d'Angleterre, torn. iii. lib. liw 
p. 385. " Le Marquis de Grana Tayant oblige de quitter Bru>elles a la 
« sollicitation du Roi d'Angleterre, le Due revint secretement en Holr 
•* lande, et s'y tint cache/' P. 386.. 



200 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section nl 6re likely that the Prince of Orange should, in his 
""* — " — — attention to Monmouth, have been influenced by his 
liking for an amiable and high-spirited young man, 
whose view of James's conduct, and the probable 
consequences of it, were similar to his own ; and it is 
not inconsistent with that persuasion to believe that 
the Prince imagined Monmouth might be likelv to 
further his views of ambition, if he then entertained 
such, without making a sacrifice of himself: in short, 
that it might be well worth his while to attach to his 
cause a man Tike Monmouth, to whom the popular 
party in England were devoted. 

It appears by the narrative of Sir Patrick Hume, 
that Monmouth was invited to join in the consulta- 
tions, by himself and some other Scottish gentlemen 
expatriated, " who found him of their opinion, and 
" according to their wishes." And the sentiments the 
Duke expresses in a letter, written not long before he 
left Holland, to Spence his secretary, then in England, 
shew rather a reluctance to the enterprize than an 
eagerness to embark in it. " You may well believe I 
** have had time enough to reflect sufficiently upon our 
" present state since 1 came hither: but whatever wav 
" I turn my thoughts, I find insuperable difficulties. 
" Pray do not think it an effect of melancholy, (for 
" that was never my greatest fault,) when I tell you 
" that, in these three weeks retirement in this place, 
" I have not only looked back but forward ; and the 



Mil. fox's historical work. 201 

" more I consider our present circumstances, I think section 
" them still the more desperate, unless some un- 
" foreseen accident fall out, which I cannot devise nor 
" hope for*." 

Romantic as such an expedition must appear to us 
at this day, with a force consisting of only a handful 
of men, among whom there were not more than two or 
three of any degree of consideration ; without concert 
with any persons of rank or influence in this country, 
and without arms, stores, clothing, or ammunition, 
except what could be purchased with a sum of 
L. 10,000, borrowed by Monmouth of a widow lady in 
Holland -f-; a degree of success attended the Duke at 
his first landing that could hardly have been hoped 
for : — of which, as well as of the reverse that followed, 
Mr. Fox has given a full and correct account. 

The imputing to him cowardice and meanness of 
spirit, on account of the anxious desire he shewed for 
life after he was taken, was the height of injustice and 
cruelty ; and the whole of Mr. Fox's reasoning upon 
that seems candid and fair. He had not had oppor- 
tunities of distinguishing himself, so as to entitle him 
to the character of a hero; but he was universally 

* Appendix to Welwood's Memoirs, No. ry. 

f In the narrative of what passed in the close of Monmouth's life, 
printed in the Appendix, he mentions having received /.iooo of a 
Mr. Look. 

D D 



202 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section esteemed brave, as well as generous, affable, ardent in 

"" — ^~ his friendships,, just to his word, and an utter enemy to 

all sorts of cruelty. His letter to James immediately 
on his being taken, it must be admitted, marked that 
desire of life strongly. In considering that letter, 
much more weight has, however, been given to the 
expression of " one word," so often alluded to, than it 
appears to have merited; considering the suddenness 
of the occasion, and the agitation of mind in which he 
must have written to James. Under such circum- 
stances, it is no matter for surprize that words of 
doubtful import should be used. That point, too, is 
very ably and fairly reasoned by Mr. Fox ; and as far 
as any new light is thrown upon the subject by the 
paper in the Appendix, the impression made by his 
reasoning will be confirmed. 

When Monmouth stated to the Lord Privy Seal, 
(the Earl of Clarendon,) who accompanied the Duchess 
in her visit to him in the Tower, what passed between 
him and the King*, not a syllable fell from him to 
lead to a belief that he had the remotest intention of 
betraying any one of those who had acted, or mani- 
fested a disposition to act, with him. On enlarging 
on the topics to the Earl which he had urged to James, 

* Appendix, No. 2. Mr. Fox had not a decided opinion whether 
there was any meeting between Monmouth and his Duchess or not, after 
he was taken ; nor generally as to what passed while he was in the Tower. 
Mr. Fox's Historical Work, p. 262* 



MR. FOX S HISTORICAL WORK. 203 

as an inducement to spare his life, the utmost length section 

he went was assuring the King " that his life would '' 

" be of service to his Majesty, as knowing the bosom 
" of all the disaffected persons in his dominions, and 
"therefore capable of all their ill designs, and pre- 
'* venting thereof, against his person and government;" 
by which he clearly meant to convey, that he would, 
if his life should be spared, contribute all in his power 
to counteract attempts thereafter on James and his 
government ; that is, that he would apply all his means 
for preventing future mischief to both : but there is no 
symptom of an intention to give facility to the punish- 
ment of an}* one for what was past : If he had har- 
boured this last intention, he would have expressed it in 
his interview with his uncle, in the hope of its inducing 
him to grant the pardon so eagerly sought for — 
Vain hope ! considering the character of James, with 
which Monmouth must have been well acquainted *.' 

* In addition to the despair with which Monmouth should have been 
impressed, arising from James's general character for cruelty and entire 
want of feeling, he might have been very sure that if the King could, 
contrary to his nature, have put from his mind all the causes of hatred 
which had arisen in the reign of his brother, the calumnies with which 
he had been loaded in the Declaration published at Lyme, in addition to 
the assumption of the royal title, must have revived and greatly increased 
it. In that Declaration, it Was imputed to James that he had poisoned'his 
brother, that he had procured the murder of Lord Essex in the Tower, 
and had encouraged the burning of London j of which offences Monmouth, 
knew he was not guilty. Mr. Fox's words, in observing thereupon, are, 
** Unsupported by evidence, to substantiate such dreadful charges, was 
** calumny of the most atrocious kind ; but the guilt is still heightened, 
D D 2 



§04 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 



tion From the instant the King had his victim in his power, 
he was determined on his destruction: nothing, there- 
fore, can be said, nothing indeed has ever been 
attempted to be said, in extenuation of the unfeeling 
conduct of James, in consenting to an interview with 
his nephew, for whose death he had taken a positive 
determination ; nor can any thing be added to the just 
censures expressed against him for it by almost all who 
have written on the subject *. 

That fixed purpose in the mind of the King is made 
still more clear than it was to those authors, by an 
authentic anecdote in the Earl of Dartmouth's manu- 
script notes. " My uncle, Colonel William Legge, 
" who went in the coach with him (Monmouth) to 
" London as a guard, with orders to stab him if there 
" were any disorders upon the road, shewed me several 
" charms that were tied about him when he was taken, 
" and his table-book, which was full of astrological 
" figures, that nobody could understand but he told 
" my uncle, that they had been given him some years 
" before in Scotland ; and said, he found now they 



" when we observe that from no conversation of Monmouth, nor indeed 
M from any other circumstance whatever, do we collect that he himself 
" believed the horrid accusations to be true." Mr. Fox's Historical 
Work, p. 27 1 -a. 

* James, on reflection, thought it indefensible himself. See Mac- 
pherson's Extracts from the Life of James the Second by himself, Vol. i. 
p. 144. 



MR. JOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 205 

" were but foolish conceits *." Which orders were section 

probably given to Colonel Legge after James had 

received Monmouth's letter; as that was written on 
the 8th of July, immediately on his being taken, and 
he was not brought to London till the 11th. 

It will be difficult to find an instance in history, in 
any age or in any country, of so earnest and eager a 
desire of life manifested by such submissive intreaties, 
through every possible channel, as in this case of the 
Duke of Monmouth, accompanied with such firmness 
and cool determined courage in meeting death ; al- 
though there are moral principles on which such 
inconsistency may be accounted for, especially in 
young and ardent minds. Of his desire for life, and 
intreaties for intercession with the King, we have 
additional evidence in the paper before referred to. 
His conversation with the Earl of Clarendon, in the 
Tower, affords proof that he had not, as Mr. Fox 
supposes, given up all hope of pardon on quitting 
James, notwithstanding the discouraging and cold- 
blooded reception he had met with from his uncle, 
which the following statement of the Earl of Dartmouth 
confirms : " When my father carried him to the Tower, 
" he pressed bim in a most indecent manner to 
" intercede once more with the King for his life, 

* Lord Dartmouth's MS. note on Burnet's History, Vol. 1. p. 645, 
last line. 



206 



O B S Ell V A T 1 3f S O'S 



section a U p 0n ail y terms * ; and told him, be knew Lord 
" Dartmouth loved King Charles : therefore, for his 
" sake, and God's sake, to try if there were yet no 
" room for mercy. My father said, the King had told 
'" him the truth ; which was, that he had made it 
" impracticable to save his life, by having declared 
* himself King. That is my misfortune, said he; 
" and those that put me upon it will fare better them- 
" selves : and then added, that Lord Grey had 
4i threatened to leave him upon their first landing, if 
" he did not do it -]-." 

The account given by Mr. Fox of what passed 
when Monmouth was on the scaffold, is taken from 
Sommers's Tracts, reprinted verbatim from a narrative 
published by authority at the time J ; in which the 
statement respecting Lady Harriet AVentworth is fuller 
than in the relation by Mr. Fox, who says, f he was 
" proceeding to speak of Lady Harriet "Wentworth, of 
" his high esteem for her, and of his confirmed opinion 
u that their connection was innocent in the sight of 
" God, when he was interrupted by the sheriff." 
That he was brutally interrupted by that officer is 

* By which he must have meant banishment, or some other terms short 
of death i not the giving up accomplices. 

f Lord Dartmouth's MS. note on the third line from the top of Burnet's 
History, Vol. i. p. 646. 

% In the possession of the author. 

6 



mil. VOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 2Qf 



true; but not till the Duke had proceeded to say, 
" I have had a scandal raised upon me about a 
" woman, a Lady of virtue and honour ; I will name 
" her, the Lady Harriet Went worth; I declare that 
" she is a very virtuous and godly woman : I have 
" committed no sin with her ; and that which has 
" passed betwixt us was very honest and innocent in 
" the sight of God/' The correctness of this state- 
ment, and of all that passed in the Duke's last mo- 
ments, is attested by two Bishops ; and by two clergy- 
men, who were afterwards successively Archbishops 
of Canterbury ; all of whom were on the scaffold with 
the Earl*. 

Having gone through such observations as appeared 
to have been rendered necessary by Mr. Fox's His- 
torical Work, it remains only to add a short account 
of the writer of the Narrative, which gave occasion to 
this publication,- in continuation of what has been 
already said of him. 

* In the Appendix to the Preface of Hemmingford's History of the 
three King Edwards, edited by Heme, is a letter from the Bishop of St. 
Asaph to Bishop Fell, " concerning the execution and last behaviour of 
" the Duke of Monmouth ;" in which there is a passage stating, on the 
authority of the Bishop of Ely, the Duke's acknowledgment on the scaf- 
fold of the nature of his intercourse with Lady Harriet W'entworth, in 
terms more direct than has any where else been met with ; but as that 
was probably rather a construction of what the Bishop of Ely communi- 
cated than what he actually said, it certainly is not to be so much relied 
on as the declaration of the same Bishop and others of what passed in the 
Duke's last moments, attested under the hands of all the parties, and 
published by authority. 



SECTION 
V; 



208 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section The execution of R usse i an d Sydney, in 1684, 

"""" having given fresh courage to the Duke of York and 

his supporters to prosecute those who had distinguished 
themselves in defence of the liberties of their fellow 
subjects, Sir Patrick Hume, convinced from experience 
that he should be one of the first objects of future 
persecution, withdrew from Red braes Castle in Ber- 
wickshire, the place of his residence, as soon as he 
heard of the imprisonment of his most intimate and 
dearest friend, Mr. Baillie of Jerviswood *, till he 
should have an opportunity of escaping from the 
country ; and chose for the place of his concealment 
the burial-place under his parish church, about a mile 
from the castle, where he remained several weeks, 
supplied every night with food by his daughter, when 
all were at rest-f. His caution proved not unneccs- 

* Of all the cruelties and persecutions of the time, nothing of a private 
nature seemed to inflict so deep a wound on the mind of Sir Patrick as tlie 
proceedings against this gentleman, who was executed on the same day he 
was convicted. It is related of him, that when the hope of a pardon was 
held out to him, on condition of his giving information respecting some 
friends supposed to be engaged with him, his answer was, " they who 
« can make such a proposal to me neither know me nor my country." 
He was found guilty principally on the evidence of Carstairs, extorted 
from him by torture. The facility with which convictions for treason 
were obtained during this period may be judged of from a passage in the 
speech of the Lord Advocate on this trial. " And if a gentleman was 
" lately found guilty of high treason, by the opinion of all the Lords of 
« Session, for not revealing that Sir John Cochrane sought fifty pounds 
" sterling from him, though he refused the same, and though he 
" believed it was sought for a charitable subsistence to preserve him 
t( from starving ! what does this pannel deserve ?" 

f A narrative of the particulars of this concealment, and of what 
passed afterwards respecting Sir Patrick, during his residence in Holland, 



MR. fox's HISTORICAL WORK. 20Q 

sary ; for immediately after he quitted his house, to SEC ™ N 
which he had returned for a fortnight from his con- 
cealment under the church, a strict search was made, 
and often repeated, by military parties sent for the 
purpose; who not only examined the premises with 
great care, but administered oaths to all the servants 
respecting the knowledge they had of their master's 
retreat. He escaped to Ireland ; from whence he 
retired first to Geneva, and then to Holland ; where, 
according to an account in a separate MS. in the 
author's possession, he was received with open arms by 
the Prince of Orange, who considered him as a sufferer 
for the Protestant interest, and for the liberties of his 
country. There he remained till he embarked with the 
£arl of Argyle. 

For all that occurred, from the time of his meeting 
with that nobleman till their final separation, reference 
must be had to the Narrative, as the most authentic 
source of information. After that separation, and the 
ultimate defeat of the handful of men who crossed the 
Clyde with him and Sir John Cochrane, and went into 
Renfrewshire, he secreted himself, as he says in a 

written by his grand-daughter, in the possession of Mr. Baillie of Jervis- 
wood, the present very respectable representative of the county of Berwick, 
who is the descendant of Sir Patrick Hume, as well as of his friend who 
suffered j is so interesting as to deserve a place in the Appendix, where it 
will be found. 

E E 



210 OBSERVATIONS ON 

section private letter, in the house of his friend, Mr. Mont- 
" gomery of Langshaw ; from whence he escaped to the 
coast of France, and travelled through the whole of 
that country in the character of a physician to Bour- 
deaux, compelled by the importunities of the people, 
as he passed, to practice, from their confidence in the 
skill of a British physician ; which he was obliged to 
continue to do at Bourdeaux, till he could get a pas- 
sage from thence to Holland, a second time. On his 
arrival in that country he went to Utrecht, where he 
was joined by his wife and family, as soon as they 
could get there. His whole estate having, in the year 
1686, been granted to the Earl of Seaforth ; in con- 
sequence of a decree of forfeiture having passed against 
him, on the 22d of May in the preceding year, without 
a trial, and before he had committed any treasonable 
act under the Earl of Argyle ; at which time a great 
reward was offered for apprehending him. 

In the year 1688 he embarked with King William, 
and was one of those who landed with him at Lyme. 
By that deliverer of his country he was created Earl 
of Marchmont*. In 1696, he was made Lord Chan- 
cellor of Scotland ; and in 1697, High Commissioner 
to represent the King in Parliament. On the accession 

* King William, as a singular mark of favour, gave him for an 
addition to his arms an orange with an imperial cro*m; and the motto, 
" Fides probata coronat." 



MR. POX S HISTORICAL WORK. 211 

of Queen Anne, he was continued in the high employ- section 

ment of Lord Chancellor; but having, on the first * 

meeting of Parliament in that reign, brought in a bill 

for securing the succession in the Protestant line, 

which was defeated by a prorogation, the Great Seal 

was taken from him. The loss of his high office did 

not, however, prevent him from being an active and 

zealous supporter of the Union ; under an impression 

that that measure, otherwise an unpopular one, would 

secure the point he thought of such high importance 

to the welfare of his country * : and he lived to be a 

witness of the success of the measure he had so much 

at heart, in the establishment of the succession of the. 

House of Hanover to the Crown of these kingdoms. 

He died in 1724, at the advanced age of eighty-four. 

What have been conceived to be the defects and 
errors of Mr. Fox's Historical Work have thus been 
unfolded, with an impartial, but, it is hoped, with a 
cautious and no indelicate hand. The original motive, 
it must be repeated, was the justice the author thought 
himself bound to claim for the ancestor of a much 
valued friend ; whom Mr. Fox, rather inconsistently, 
pronounced, in his own opinion, an honourable man ; 

* In the Earl's correspondence with the Duke of Devonshire and Lord 
Sommers, he pressed on them a decided opinion that the Protestant 
succession could not be effectually secured in any way but by an union of 
the two kingdoms. 

E E 2 



212 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V. 



having previously quoted the Earl of Argyle's words, 
with acquiescence, if not approbation, to shew him 
unfaithful to his friend, and a betrayer of his cause. 
In the course of the investigation, however, which that 
object had prompted, one of a more public and general 
kind occurred, which the author, as a friend of the 
British Constitution, became equally solicitous to 
attain. 

The soundness of public opinion is of the highest 
importance to public happiness ; and he does a service 
to his country, who prevents its being misled in matters 
essential to that constitution, which the proud ex- 
perience of ages entitles us to call the best that any 
nation has ever enjoyed. The equipoise of its com- 
ponent parts, the monarchical, the aristocratical, and 
the popular, is the basis of the system : — that equipoise 
•will be in danger of being lost, or its useful exercise 
very much impeded, if the people shall be taught con- 
temptuous notions of any of these constituent parts, 
or aggravated ideas of its probable abuse. 

There have been times when the blindness and 
bigotry of party writings ran counter to the most just 
and noblest privileges of the people ; to the clearest 
and most undoubted principles of rational freedom. 
These have now gone by ; and if remembered at all, 
are remembered with the contempt they deserve. But 



MR. FOX'S HISTORICAL WORK. 213 

doctrines in the opposite extreme are not less dan- section 
gerous to public order, or to public welfare ; doctrines ~ 

which would degrade and vilify in the minds of the 
people that monarch}'', whose limited powers the 
people themselves may be truly said not more to obey 
than to enjoy : since the exercise of those powers are 
essential to their safety, and in truth to their inde^ 
pendance. It is on this ground,, and because Mr. 
Fox's book seemed to be calculated, or rather to have 
a tendency, to produce this effect, that the remarks 
contained in the foregoing sheets have been ven- 
tured. 

Mr. Fox's work exhibits royalty at a time, and 
amidst a train of events, in which the tyranny of the 
Sovereign at home was not redeemed or alleviated by 
glory or success abroad. Such glory and success at- 
tended the reign of Elizabeth ; and such the usurpation 
of Cromwell. The period to which Mr. Fox limited 
himself does not comprehend the Protectorate ; but he 
has incidentally thrown over Cromwell's usurpation 
that sort of veil, which, speaking of its energy, and not 
of its injustice, naturally interposes between that in- 
justice and our feelings. And he has given the same 
air of grandeur to the execution of Charles the First, 
which he compares, favourably compares, with the 
unjust sentence of Strafford ; which that ill-fated 
Monarch to his latest moments bitterly repented his 



214 OBSERVATIONS ON 



SECTION 
V. 



having consented to sanction : without stating the dis- 
tinctions between the violation (gross indeed, and 
ever to be reprobated) of the laws and forms of 
criminal procedure in the one case ; and the overthrow 
of the constitution itself, from which those laws 
emanate, in the other. He has assigned to James the 
motive only of a passion for arbitrary sway, as the 
common vice of Kings, without assigning its proper 
influence to that peculiar propensity which was always 
inherent in, and present to, his mind ; and which, it 
is conceived, has been proved to overrule, in that 
infatuated monarch, every other desire of power, or 
consideration of safety, — bigotry to his religion. And 
professing admiration of the Revolution of 1688, he 
has deprived it of some of those honours, which every 
inhabitant of this favoured country is bound to acknow- 
ledge with that reverence and attachment due to a 
constitution and form of government, which at the 
time of that Revolution, and by the public virtue of 
its promoters, was fixed, it is hoped unalterably fixed, 
as the basis and security of our private happiness and 
our national safety. 

In all these particulars the author has ventured to 
differ from Mr. Fox with freedom and zeal, but he 
hopes temperately, and with fairness and candour. 
The subject has been considered with no more personal 
reference to Mr. Fox than was necessary to afford a 

8 



mr. fox's HISTORICAL WORK. 215 



reason, or perhaps more properly speaking, an apology 
for what was thought to be a mistaken view of some of 
its leading points ; with reference to the political situa- 
tion in which he happened to be placed during the 
greatest part of his life, and the use to which his 
splendid talents were for the most part applied. 

The author speaks impersonally, and he hopes it 
will be allowed justly, when he says that history, in its 
proper province, instructs, warns, and improves man- 
kind. Its impartial narrative gives to the present time 
the experience which only a knowledge of the past can 
bestow ; and prompts those just and salutary re- 
flections, which the events it records naturally produce. 
But history cannot connect itself with party, without 
forfeiting its name; without departing from the truth, 
the dignity, and the usefulness of its functions. 



SECTION 
V. 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S 

NARRATIVE of OCCURRENCES 



EXPEDITION OF THE EARL OF ARGYLE, 
In 1685. 



[a] 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 



INDORSED, 

A LETTER OF IMPORTANT PASSAGES in 1685. 

JVIy Dear heart*. Since I can have smal hope of 
seeing 3*011 any more, or enjoying the pleasure of con- 
versing to you, a thing wherein as now I more than 
ever discerne my happiness on this earth did much 
consist, not knowing how long God will preserve mee 
from the hands of mine enemies, who pant earnestly 
after my life, have set a rate upon my head, and done 
otherwise what they can to cut off from mee all ways 
of escaping their fury; I found myselfe obliged on 
many accounts, publick and my owne, to spend some 
time in giving to the nation & my friends & my family, 
some account of the matters, I have of late had hand 
in and of myselfe; that the affaire chiefly, many worthy 
persons therein concerned and I, may not by ignorant 

* This Paper was addressed to his wife, from Holland. 
[AS] 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

or false representations be prejudiced or discredited, and 
ther is none to whom I can address it so duely as your- 
selfe, or so safely ; for though this mock parliament 
have made it by their forfaulting mee very dangerous 
for others, yet you may with somewhat more safety re- 
ceive a letter from mee, also none will take so much 
care of dispersing the contents as I think you will ; 
beside that there is none I can be more obliged to sa- 
tisfy then you by it ; and for these purposes I recom- 
mend it to your care and descretion. 

In the moneth of September last when order was 
given to apprehend mee, and my house was twice 
searched by troopes sent for that end *, so as I was 
obliged to abscond till I got a convenient way of getting 
off the Isle, you know how it was with mee and the 
maner of my living : so soone as I got upon the Con- 
tinent, I stay'd but short in France, but spent some 
weeks in Dunkirk, Ostend, Bruges, and other townes in 
Flanders and Brabant, wher I traversed before I came 
to Brussells, whither soone as I heard that he resided 
there, I went to converse with the Duke of Monmouth ; 
but he was gone thence to Hague, which led mee, after 
waiting some time for him, in expectation of his returne, 
on to Antwerp and so to Holland : But finding no con- 
venience of meeting him, after short stay at Rotter- 

• See Lady Murray's Narrative in the Appendix. 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

dam I went up to Utrecht with thoughts of putting off 
longer time there, and spending it as profitably as I 
might : But very soon the surprising newes of King 
Charles his death, with great grounds, and to mee con- 
vincing, of base and treacherous means of bringing 
him to it, came to my ears: Whereupon after dis- 
coursing there with some worthy, liberal spirited gen- 
tlemen of our nation, I went to Rotterdam to treat 
with others who were there, wher I found severall. 

After free communication of thoughts, wherin wee 
were at perfect agreement, wee as freely communicated 
opinions and counsells ; and attained at lenth to as 
perfect an aggreement of resolution and determina- 
tion what to doe ; and being convinced that the hellish 
popish plot, so evidently and distinctly discovered and 
laid open in the parliament of England, to the convic- 
tion of all ingenous and intelligent considerers, 'though 
afterwards hudled up and obscured by the arts of the 
Duke of York and others, its wicked and restless instru- 
ments, and thereby put in case to work and goe on 
with greater ease & safety to itselfe and them, and far 
greater danger to all the protestant freemen; had taken 
its effect against the late King bjr an incomparable in- 
gratitude of all the managers thereof; and was now in 
case and ready to receive its top ston, and finall accom- 
plishment, in the destruction and suppression of the 
Christian Religion, (which is but one, and wherin the 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

Roman has no pairt unless Christian and Anti-Chris- 
tian signify the same thing,) and itsprofessers, and of the 
naturall and native rights and liberties of the free people 
of Britaine and Irland, and allthelegall fences of societie 
and propertie there established, by the means of the Duke 
of York his attaining to, and his receiving of the im- 
perial crowne of these Kingdoms; and that if he should 
be able by the feircer methods of his owne fury, or the 
crafty contrivances of his party, so to work upon the 
countries and corporations of England, generally laid 
sleeping & intoxicated by ease from war and taxes, & 
by a free course of their traffick & trade, during the 
later years of King Charles his reigne, by reason of 
pairtly that King's love of ease, & feares & apprehen- 
siones of a civill war, & his jeolousies & dislike of 
parliaments; finding of late their inclinationes to search 
in his mysteries, the designes of popery, at least in sub- 
serviencie to arbitrary power, & absolute tyranny; 
& pairtly his policie & cuning, wherin he exceeded 
all about him admitted to his service and counsels ; 
whcrby he indeed made easier, quicker & greater pro- 
gress in his designes than he could possibly have done 
by rough & stormie methods, verifying upon his hood- 
winked people the saying, " plures gula quam gladiis 
" pereant." — AVho truly have been as Samson dandled 
upon the knees of their Delilas 'till the loaks of their 
strenth have been cuttorf, & almost their ejes put out, 
as to gett a parliament there of his owne packing, ac- 

4 



SIR- PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE; 

cording to the illegal! methods taken to debauch & 
influence elections in counties, cities &townes; hav- 
ing that point aboundantly certaine in Scotland, by the 
treacherie and perfidie of former mock-parliaments, 
very well packed for that purpose, by "methods as frau- 
dulent & injust & more violent; and in Ireland by such 
assistance as a few apostate planters, being men of 
intrest and in command, might give to the numerous 
barbarous and bigot papist natives ; he might & would 
soone fortifie himselfein his station with strong armies; 
& then, on the methods of his naturall temper, con- 
forme to the cruell principles of his religion and its 
doctrins, cary on his terrible work of setling and ri- 
vetting Popery & tyranniein, & eradicating Christianity 
& Liberty, the chief blessings of a society, out of these 
nations ; at leest would make the meanes of preventing 
these great & imminent dangers, more narow and 
scarce ; and the practice more difficult & dangerous ; 
and being also fully and distinctly satisfied & cleared, 
of the obligation and duty lying upon us as Christians 
and scottes natives, to endeavour the rescue, defence, 
and relief, of our Religion, Rights, and Liberties, and 
the many distressed sufferers on their behalf against the 
Duke of York & others, usurping upon, ruining and in- 
vading of the same under pretext of Justice, Law, & 
Right ; and of the probability and convenience of the 
present opportunity, in respect of the great and just 
enmity, of the bodies of all three nationes against the, 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

Duke in respect of the many mischeifes, cruell bloodshed^ 
and grievus oppressions, comitted and exercised upon 
them by his influence, & aversation from him, abound- 
antly manifested as occasion came to their hands ; 
wee did resolve and determine, to try how far wee could 
reasonably undertake and porsue, our clear dutty in 
the matter. 

The first step resolved was to try the opinions of the 
Duke of Monmouth & Earl of Argyle, and others be- 
yond sea, sufferers for the intrests, or any pairt thereof; 
at least such as wee conceived trusty, right affected, and 
able to give advice: this wee judged our duty to them 
and their sufferings, and necessary for clearing up & fol- 
lowing out the affaire; for upon the whole matter we laid 
it for a ground that the wicked designes against the true 
religion wer not confined to, nor calculated against, 
Britain and Ireland only, but universally, as is indis- 
putably clear; though I will no there repeat the proofs, 
intending only a letter not a treatise : And that it was 
therfore necessary to try how far Princess & States of 
the religion, would bestir themselves to prevent the 
mischeifes, by us aiding either in the beginning or 
progress of the attempt ; likewise, that the designes 
against rights & liberties, and for establishing tyrannical 
monarchy, wer levelled equally against all three king- 
domes; which required the concurrence of all 3 in 
the attempt and undertaking for opposing them; not 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE, 

only in justice but of necessity, in respect of the 
enemy's strenth by his allyes abroad, standing forces, 
papists, pensioners, beneficioners, and traders at home ; 
and that it was therefor necessary to solicite the con- 
currence of those concerned and cordiall of all 3 na- 
tiones, especially considering that by want therof, 
those two worthy appearances of our countrymen, the 
honourable asserters of our religion and liberties, at 
Pentland hills and Bothwell bridge, wer so soone de- 
salted and frustrated. 

Pursuant to our purpose wee invited the Duke of 
Monmouth then gone for Brussells, to Rotterdam, giving 
in the letter some intimation of our business with him; 
who without delay came to us ; having -discoursed at 
large wee found him of our opinion, and according to 
our wishes, and as much as any persuaded that if some- 
thing were not timously done, the Duke of York would 
strenthen himself in armies, debauch or violent par- 
liaments, so as in short time he should be able to 
oppress all good christians, and free spirits in the na- 
tiones, and setle Antichristianisme and tyranny at 
his pleasure. 

The Erie of Argyle with Sir Jo n Cochran and his son 
Jo n and other gentlemen, (but I abstaine from naming 
any persons in this writing who yet are out of the 
enemies hands, till a time of less danger set mee at 
liberty) upon the news of King Carles' death came from 



10 SIR PATRICK HUME 6 NARRATIVE. 

Freczland, and other places there and in Germany, to 
Amsterdam ; hearing of us in Rotterdam, haisted 
thither, but Monmouth was parted before : The Erie 
was very forward without delay to take sniping for Scot- 
land, and asked us, who of us would take our hazard 
and goe? for that he was resolved presently with such 
as would follow him to set forward and land there. It 
was answered, that all of us were determined and clear, 
both in point of our duty, and of the* probabeters of the 
present juncture of affairs in reference to the D. of 
York and the nationes; if all previous necessaries were 
fitted & adjusted, and needfull preparations made; and 
that if we should precipitate, neglecting any of those, 
wee might probably make mcr baist then good speed"; 
and therfore advised, that wee should in order con- 
sider and discourse of the whole affaire above, as it 
wer in the preliminaries, correspondencies, prepara- 
tions, concurrences, and aides, forreign and civill, the 
beginning stepes and progress, in so far as might be 
evident and distinct, with the dangers cSc remedies, con- 
veniences & inconveniencyes, discoverable in so great 
and consequential] ane undertaking ; the effects and 
result wherof, would necessarily produce either great 
benefit, or damage, to the christian interest and the 
nationes, of our concerne ; and reduce our resolves 
into a scheme or modell, as clear as wee could, to be 
followed or altered as the busines in the progress 
should require. 

*Sic. 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 11 

The Erie said to this purpose, that he had good corre- 
spondence in Scotland and much, and by it considerable 
encouragement and invitation for coming to Scotland, 
and assurance of concurrance ; but desired withall 
that none would press him with particulares, for these 
he would impairt to nobody; then gave a large account 
of what befell him after his escape from Ed r Castle, 
and leaving of London ; how he fell acquainted with 
some good English people very concerned in the coiiion 
cause, and wel stocked in money (but such cannot 
now be named) ; how providence had assisted him in 
making preparation of armes of all sorts, both for horse- 
men & foot, to the value of a great sum which wher now 
in readiness, likewise one frigat already bought; that 
he was fully satisfied of concurrance in Scotland, as 
for any other, he thought it was not to be expected in 
the beginning, but would assuredly follow; that he did 
perfectly understand the whole harboures and coastes 
about Scotland, and the grounds, and fields in every 
countrey and place thereof, and knew how to use 
them in landing, marching, and encamping of an 
army, and in leading & drawing them to batle, to the 
best advantage ; that he would shew to some of us 
the listes and accounts of his armes & ammunition, 
and order of provision for transport ; but for other 
things, which related to and concerned the manage- 
ment & conduct of the business, must needs be left to 
himselfe, and could not be imparted without danger 
and detriment to the affaire, or denyed to him by any, 

O'a] 



12 SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 

but who doubted either his abilities and fitness, or his 
integritie and ingenuitie ; and if a scheme wer made 
on such an affaire, it could only serve to divulge me- 
thodes, for it could not be a rule ; the generall being 
often necessitated to change methods in an houre : And 
if any of us wer of contrary opinion, he desired none 
such to goe along, and would not bid them, but he 
would begone very soone with such as would joine him. 

This discours, with some tart expressiones which he had 
upon the Duke of Monmouth, importing great, and as 
wee understood groundless, jeolousies of him, and aver- 
sion from medling with him or having him concerned 
in the business, put us to second thoughts; yet then wee 
only told him, that wee would consider further of matters,, 
and try the Duke of Monmouth's inclinations and temper. 
The next occasion we had soone after of treating with 
the Duke, wee went overall had been before discoursed 
with him, and finding him firmly resolved as before, I 
asked him, in what character he intended to join and 
act? he answered as a Protestant and Englishman, for 
the Protestant religion and liberties of the nationes, 
against the Duke of York, usurper of the Royall dignity, 
and his assisters, oppressors of the people in al 3 
nationes, in their Religion, Consciences, Rights, and 
Liberties : I urged further, if he considered himselfe M 
lawfull son of King Carles last deceased ? he said he did : 
1 asked if he was able to make out and prove the mar- 
riage of his mother to the King Charles, and he intended 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 13 

tx> lay claime to the crowne ? He answered he had been 
able lately to prove the marriage *, and if some per- 
sons are not lately dead, of which he would informe 
himselfe, he would yet be able to prove it : As for his 
claiming the crowne, he intended not to doe it, unless 
it wer advised to be done, by those who should con- 
cerne themselves, and joine for delivery of the nationes ; 
and that whether so or not, he would lay no clame, 
or use no title,, but by advice,, and to the advantage 
of the comOn cause;, and if, and when, wee should 
prevail, he should lay it downe, and give it up in the 
hands of the people or their representatives, for esta- 
blishing their religion, and a solidd and good modell. 
of government, such as they should think. fitt to setle ; 
and that for his pairt he should cheerfully and heartily,, 
accept of what station in the comonwealtb, they should 
bestow upon him; and think himself fully rewarded 
by being the instrument of so much good to the na- 

* For the solemn declaration made by the King in Council, and enrolled 
in Chancery, that he was not married to Monmouth's mother, see the Pa- - 
per in the Appendix. 

The only instances which have been met with of any thing like an ac- 
knowledgment that Charles the 2d was married to Mrs. Walters, are in 
two letters to him from the Princess of Orange, from the Hague, 20th 
May, 1655, and from Hounslerdike, 21st June following.: In the first 
her Highness says, " Your wife is resolving whither shee will writ or no : 
" therefor I am to say nothing to. you from her." In the other, " Your 
" wife desires me to present her humble duty to you ; which is all she can 
"say. I tell her 'tis because shee thinks of another . husband, and dos 
"not follow your example, of being as constant a wife as you are a 
" husband : 'tis a frailty they say is given to thp sex ; therefore you will 
« pardon her I hope." Thurioe's State Papers, Vol. i. page 665, 



J4 SIB PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

tiones : Upon this I told him, that I found man}', our 
best friends in England, jeolous of his aspiring to the 
royall dignitie; of which, by reason of the great abuses 
of itt, and the miserable consequences, so habituall 
as now become its second nature, they wer extremely 
disgusted, and so somewhat averse from medling with 
him; but if he would on the termes of his discourse, 
give full assurance to such of them as wer in the Low 
Countreys, many at Amsterdam, whereof they might 
certify their friends in England, and to us, so as wee 
might certifie many to whom wee had accesse, he 
would quickly be most acceptable to all, and in all 
probability be the great instrument of the nationes 
there deliverance: and obtain for himselfe and his 
family a more honourable, and better established station 
and condition, than any King on earth : Wherupon, 
lie tooke deep assevcrationes in the presence of Clod, 
that he intended and would doc as he had spoken, 
and repeated what before is rehearsed, and said he 
would give the like assurance to the English, as he did 
very solemnly*; whereby his greatest opposers, jeolous 
of him as above said, (who gave mee a full account of 
the matter, as likewise he himselfe did afterwards at 
Amsterdam,) wer cordially joined to him. and entirely 
of a peace with him. Then, wee proceeded to other 
points, and concluded, that unless an attempt should 
be made in England, at the same time as in Scotland, 

* His assuming the regal title soon after putting his foot on English 
ground was not very consent with this. 

7 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 15 

wee would not engage, or goe to action ; next, that wee 
would take course, that at leest ther should be such a 
ballance fixed in Ireland, as that no danger might 
come upon Scotland or England from thence : Then, 
that wee should so deale with protestant powers abroad, 
as they should at leest keep off forreigne powers, popish 
and allyes to York, from medling in the war, and 
what further could be obtained of them ; wher anent 
some of them had already given us what to hope : 
Wee fixed some methods upon each point, and the 
Duke said, that if after tryall he should not have faire 
invitation to goe for England, if wee thought business 
might be done to purpose in Scotland, he would be 
ready to hazard with us thither ; this he said upon our 
telling him of Argyle/s confidence, and haist to be gone; 
but wee tokl him that Avee would not meddle in the 
bussiness, unless upon concurrence of the promised 
considerationes. Shortly after the Erie came to Rot- 
terdam, with Sir Jo 11 Cochran and others ; wee told him 
how frank and ready the Duke was, yea, even if wee 
thought wee should be able to doe the bussiness in 
Scotland without England's help, at leest in the beg- 
ginning, he should be ready to goe along with us. The 
Erie started exceedingly at this, and expressed great 
dislike of the Duke goeing to Scotland; saying, that 
he could signifie nothing, Avher he had so litle ac- 
quaintance, and that however qualified he wer for 
conducting of a Royall well provided army, yet he 
knew him not very fit for making the best of a few 



if) SIB PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 

men in partyes, which would be our first work. Wee 
told him, that he would not think of goeing to Scot- 
land, if he could goe to serve the intrest in England; 
but if he wer not to goe thither, wee judged wee could 
not faire the worse for his goeing with us, in case wee 
thought fitt to goe : Then said the Erie, wher are the 
Duke's armes, and amunition ? If he be sufficiently 
provided of these, I am not only content to goe to 
Scotland, but shall be willing to serve under him, 
wer it as a single trooper; but if he is unprovided how 
can he undertake such a bussinesse ? W«e answered, 
that the provissiones which he had given us account of 
the other meeting wer considerable, and enough to 
begin with. He replycd, these wher nothing to the 
Duke of Monmouth nor to him ; but bought & pro- 
vided by other good persons to be employed as they 
pleased; and that they would by no meanes medle with 
the Duke : Wee put him in mind that formerly he 
called the armes his armes, and aiiiunition his amuni- 
tion, and asked how he now said they belonged to 
others? He answered that they wer the bj4 
who would have them used by him as they would : 
Then wee told him that whatever wer the J)uke*s or 
his Lordship's opinion, wee wer firmly determined not 
to have any attempt made on Scotland, except it wer 
at the same time, or about it, made in England: And 
except Irland and forreigners wer prepared as above- 
said ; and unless wee wer satisfied with the corre- 
spondences, preparations, and schem, and modell of 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. ]7 

the whole designe ; and of the ways laid downe to 
carry on and manage it, with the grounds and decla- 
rations to be published thereupon : Because, as if 
this undertakeing should be well managed, its successe 
might restore the nation's intrests ; so, if mismanaged,. its 
defeat would exceedingly tend to their ruine, at leest 
high detriment and prejudice. At this meeting the 
Erie was high, peremptory, and passionate, tho' I 
have concealld all the expressions, and parted in y< 
temper; wee wer much stumbled, and found the first 
difficultie was how to prevent mistake rising betwixt 
the Duke of Monmouth and the Erie, when they 
should meet; especially having clearly discovered 
from his cariage and discourses all along that the point 
of leading and cofhand. stuck very deep with the Erie; 
but he prevented our fears, for next day he visited 
the Duke alone, and conserted with him, that unless 
England would concur our undertaking should goe no 
further; and likewise agreed in the generall to what 
is said before anent Irland and forreigners : Then, 
having met together, wee concluded that the Duke, 
with assistance of the English in these pairts, should, 
try the English part and prepare for it; and also doe 
what he could anent Irland and forreigners ; in which 
wee should concur and cofnunicate counsells, and that 
wee should try the Scots part and prepare for it: And 
when all wer ready, should jointly and at or about 



u 



the same time set saile, and goe to it ; provided that 
tryalls and preparations did answer expectations to 
satisfaction : The Erie at this meeting pressed exceed- 
ingly a categorick answer, whether wee would goe with 
him or not; but had returne that the examinatk; 
the things promised, would determine both the whole 
affaire, and as to its being undertaken, and our going-. 
Thus wee parted, every one to set about the pants 
of the bussines as was resolved ; and wee trusted, 
being to much observed at Rotterdam, to meet will) 
the Erie and other Scots at Amsterdam, to proceed in 
the trying and ordering the Scots pairtand Irish: After 
the Erie was gone, some that came from Amsterdam 
with him, who stayed at Rotterdam some days with 
us, vented in discourse many litle predictions, which 
they said wcr matter of table talking to the Erie and 
his English freinds about him, (who to say, as it seemed, 
caryed him at great respect, and esteemed him very 
highly,) all pointing at some great action to be done 
by him, : especially some horagliphicks by an English 
astroleger, representing many events ; as King Charles 
the 1st his death ; Oliver's rise, progress. and end ; Oha 
the 2d's banishment, restoration, and death : Duke of 
York coming to the crowne ; and Inst a litle Highland 
man, as the habit shewed, brandishing his sword over 
a field of dead bodies : none was so vaine as to apply 
to the Erie plainly, but it was clear enough bv their 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 19 

way of talking and insisting on these idle trifles, both 
there and at Amsterdam afterwards, that they did de- 
sire the hearers might apply them : But these stories, 
with the Erie's deportment before and after, had quite 
another effect, and made us feare that the Erie went 
too far on grounds too weak ; and resolved to try all to 
the bottom, that ther might be no trifling and fooling 
in matters of so high importance ; which wee did as far 
as wee could in the following manner : The Scots that 
wer at Rotterdam, who wer all the persons of any ex- 
perience in state matters amongst us, the Erie and Sir 
John Cochrane excepted, went to a close considering . 
and discoursing of the affaire in all points, especially 
those before-mentioned ; and having agreed in one, 
some of our numbers wer chosen to go to Amster- 
dam, to meet with the Duke of Monmouth as occasion 
required, to learn what progress he made in his pairt; 
of the business ; and to consert with the Earl of Argyle 
what related to our pairt, after examination of such 
things relating to it as was needfull for our clearing. 

When they came thither, and met with M — and the 

Lord Gray they greatly satisfied us anent the intelli- 
gences and message toward England and forreign 
friends ; but when, return came nothing more could 
be done on their pairt. They enquired at some of us 
if wee wer well fixed upon our grounds? We answered 
it was our bussiness here to try and setle them; he told 
us Argyle promised great things, as 5 or 6000 men of 
[02 J 



•:0 SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

his owne at leest, and was impatient to be gone, and 
dissatisfied with some of us for delaying; 'twas an- 
swered that there was no delay on our pairt, yet there 
was no determining till it wer knowen that England 
would concur, Irland wer secured, forreigners at leest 
satisfied with our attempt, and the Scots pairt better 
prepared : As for the 6000 men, the Erie promised 
of his owne, wee would try if he wer certaine of them ; 
wee wer exceedingly straitened betwixt the Duke and 
the Erie ; the last asserting great things to him which 
wee knew wold not hold, and wer loath to contradict, 
and discover the weakness, lest the Duke and Lord 
Grey should be discouraged ; at lest till they might be 
encouraged from England : But the Duke meeting 
frequently with the Erie, found out of himselfe what 
wee would gladly have covered ; and began to set 
light by the Erie's calculationcs, except in so far as 
wee joined with him and asserted. At first meeting 
with the Erie, he discoursed at large and satisfvingly, of 
the provision of armes and aniunition, which to its 
proportion was indeed very good and orderly ; nor doe 
I think ever so litle money, in this age and place of the 
world, was more advantageously laide out such a way : 
for I am assured 20,000 /. sterling has been dJBbbrwd 
for a lesse provision than was made here within H).O(X). 
Then it was asked when wee looked for men to lilt 
these armes ? The Erie answered, he had many more 
men of his owne would joine him whensoever lie came 



Silt PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 21 

among them then would take all these amies; but they 
wer already very well armed, and needed them not ; 
therfore he would bestow few of these armes among 
them, but reserve them for such Lowland men as 
wanted armes : Then wee went closse to the point, & 
desired to know what ground there was for expecting 
5 or 6000 Highlanders ? What ground for expecting in 
the Lowlands if these wer suppositiones ? The Erie 
answered, he went not upon suppositiones, but upon 
good and solid assurances ; yet such as he could not 
impairt, and if wee would not trust him in that, wee 
might, &c. doe as wee pleased. Sir John Cochran said 
he was satisfied of the Erie's grounds as to the High- 
lands, and could freely trust him, since it was to be 
supposed the Erie would neither ad venter to goehimselfe, 
or to invite us, but upon good and probable grounds: 
And as to the Lowlands could say more, that he 
himselfe had good assurances of a strong concurrence, 
which made him the more freely trust what the Erie 
asserted of his ; but that it was not to be imagined the 
Erie or he would divulge persons or correspondences; 
so that the trust and confidence in the asserters be- 
hoved to satisfie, as it might very well. It was answered, 
divulging of things fitt to be kept secret was not' de- 
sired ; but that some others of our number (some such 
ther wer amongst us deserved upon all considerations 
to have nothing kept up from them in the whole affaire,) 
might be acquainted with all things, and capacitate to 



2 l j sir Patrick hume's narrative. 

join with the Erie in what he asserted ; in which the 
whole company would acquiesse without more question* 
The Erie, hearing these things somewhat impatiently, 
answered he must be trusted in more then that ; for 
his grounds of assurance, the time of his goeing off 
from Holland til 24 hours before, and the place of his 
landing in Scotland, he would impairt to no mortall 
man ; and he that would not trust these to him, had 
best not be concerned in this bussiness. Sir John an- 
swered he did freely trust him ; he had never pressed 
him on these heads, nor would; nor did he think that 
any man ought to doe it; so wee parted, not at all 
satisfied ; yet being very intent upon the business, and 
desirous to find satisfaction to our reason, I was sent 
to the Erie with an overture, and was desired to presse 
him and Sir John, in the terms I used as follows : I 
expostulated with the Erie upon the three points he 
would keep secret ; told him plainly they would not 
pass upon his creditc, and pressed that he might trcate 
freely anent them with any two of six I named, whose 
assertion with his Lordship would satisfie all : lie an- 
swered to the first point with a question ; you know, 
said he, my son is come over to me lately, by whom 
I heard from my friends in the Highlands and Low- 
lands, and have good assurance of assistance from 
them, as also from those a foot of our party in Scot- 
land, called the Mountaine Men ; and if you wer in 
my caise, and under tyes to conceale persons names 

5 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

with whom you had dealing, would you reveale them 
to any ? I said I would not; then, replyed he, you are 
answered in that point; for the other two, he thought 
them not material 1 for any body to know ; and if they 
should, or any of them, chanee to be discovered, it 
would disappoint and prevent the whole business. I 
condescended with him as to the second, provided time 
was given to make ready ; but for the 3d, I told him 
most would be very ernest that two, as I spoke of, should 
be acquainted with the place of landing, and declare 
their good likeingof it, which would satisfie all; other- 
wise 'twas like wee would break asunder. 

It wer tedious, neither have I time for it, to repeat 
all the arguments and answers that passed on this mat- 
ter ; but for conclusion, the Erie refused possitively, 
come on it what would : I went to Sir John, and dis- 
coursing him on the same points, found him wel pre- 
pared by the Erie, giving the same answeres for the 
Erie as himselfe did; he declared his disatisfaction 
with such as pressed him on these heads, which he 
said ought to be trusted to him as Generall. Gene- 
rail said I, of what ? where is the army ? and who 
has apointed my Lord for Generall ? The matter is 
not yet come that lenth ; we must think first if a war 
is determined; then of souldiers to be gotten and 
armed ; and then of a Generall to lead them. I pray, 
said he, who is so capable of that coniand as my Lord? 



24 sir Patrick hume's narrative. 

Then I, supposing an army, he is certainly very capa- 
ble of being chosen to, but not of assuming to him- 
selfe the office of Generall ; for you know we are not 
for arbitrary power in what hand soever : He answer- 
ing no more, I pressed him upon the quality of his 
assurances from his countrey ; he said he knew that 
he would not be foure days there, when he should have 
3000 good men at his backe ; at that he might say 
more ; but I pressing him to particulares, he plainly 
acknowleged that he had no private correspondence 
since the King s death ; but, said he, doe you think 
that the countrey where my intrest is, being one of 
the best affected in Scotland, wher I have so many 
good relationes also well affected, who albeit the}- 
should be inclined toly by at the first themselves, (wher 
he named several considerable persons,) would certainly 
encourage their people to joine, that my reckoning 
of 4 or 3000 is wide and improbable ? I said I know 
not ; but thought it an uncertainty ; he said he 
reckoned it a certainty. When I had discoursed 
friends on these things, another message was sent to 
the Erie, desiring that he would deale freely upon the 
secret points with one person named to him, his owne 
great friend, long acquaintance, & confident ; and if 
he would assert his satisfaction of the groundes, all 
others would acquiesse : To this the Erie condescend- 
ed : In the mean time the Duke of Monmouth, under- 
standing how things wer amonst us, desired to discourse 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 25 

the Erie and mee together ; the Erie made his part as 
plausible as he could, and asserted that he was able, 
of his owne, to raise 15,000 men; and asked me if it 
wer not so ? I, unwilling to diminish the esteem of his 
power to the Duke, which T conceived the persuasion 
of might be encourageing to him, answered, I supposed 
his intrest by friends and followers had been very 
great, though I knew it not particularly; but this I 
knew, that the government had for several years made 
it their business to break it, and had very much weakr 
ened it: Well, said he, think you not of 15, I can have 
5 ? I know not, said I : Think you not, said he, I 
may have 3 ? lam as sure of 3000 as of 300 ; and 
with those I will, though no more should join, keep all 
York's forces in Scotland at work for a year : But, 
said he, what men can you raise ? I told him it was 
not our fasliion, in that countrey, to keep muster-roll 
of our men; but he pressing me hard before the 
Duke, I answered, that i was persuaded neither his 
followers nor mine, on account of private intrest or 
respecte, would much signify; but affection to the 
common cause would doe the business of raising the 
countrey ; and if I wer with other 3 whom I namedj 
with a small backing in that countrey, I thought we 
should be able to bring to our army 600 good horse- 
"men, with as great a certainty as he could raise the 
3000 spoken of on his private intrest. The Duke 
said, that was very considerable ; and he thought I 



$6 SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 

spoke modestly, for he knew all his intrest in the 
South would joine me: I said I thought I might in 
modesty say more, but would not, till I tryed by a 
messenger. Then told we the Duke how we had 
conserted the aforesaid points in difference, wherof he 
was very joy full, and we parted so. Then some of us 
wer sent to the comon trustee, and acquainted him 
with the points wherof the Erie was to satisfy him, 
and discoursed the import of the bussines and its 
weight, and how great a trust he bore ; he promised 
to lay it to heart, and try the Erie fully. After the 
Erie had got time with him, we wer sent to get an 
account, the Erie asserting that he had fully satisfied 
him ; he told us that he had discoursed with the 
Earl at large, and was fully satisfied of his grounds, 
so as he himself could freely join with him, and 
thought others might safely doe so, at which we 
expressed great satisfaction ; yet afterwards, examining 
more particularly, he acknowledged the Erie had not 
acquainted him with particulare correspondences, nor 
the place intended to land at; only he said he was 
convinced the Erie had great and good correspond- 
ence ; and as to his landing and hegiiiing the 
action, that he had notable projects in his head ; but 
that he would not unfold particulares ; yet he was 
persuaded the Erie, being one of so great experience 
in affairs, so good pairts, so great intrest, and con- 
cerne in this matter, would not adventure himselfe. 
1 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 27 

or others, but upon grounds very probable ; especially 
when not only his own standing and falling did depend 
tipon it, but also the intrest of the Christian religion^ 
not only in Britain and Irland, but universally, 
and the natione's rights and liberties ; since of ne- 
cessity either much advantage or prejudice must 
be the consequence of the undertaking and attemp. 
Upon further discourse wee found this person not 
intending to goe himselfe along; reporting these things 
to our company they wer no way satisfied, finding 
that the Erie had not dealt in that particular way of 
freedom that they expected, with their trustee ; and 
Supposing him not so qualified to judge, as not being 
to be personally concerned, as those who wer. The 
Erie, finding them yet dissatisfied, pretended an ad- 
vantage of them and told the Duke therof ; who, on 
hearing the full account, was satisfied that the failure 
was on the Erie's pairt, who had not used that freedome 
with the trustee which the gentlemen had cause to 
expect : Then the Erie offered that so soon as wee wer 
a shipboard, so as nothing could spread out of the 
company, he would acquaint us all with the place of his 
landing; and if wee wer not satisfied, should either 
satisfie us or be satisfied with our choice, and should 
likewise satisfy us of all his projects, or change by our 
Advice ; but behoved to conceale his correspondences : 
We wer satisfied he should conceale the correspondents, 
not the correspondences, to which he aggreed ; the 
t »2 ] 



28 1 SIR PAT1UCK IIVMLS NARRATIVE. 

rest wee took to advisement till wee should proceed 
to consider other points and conclude altogether; it 
was moved that we should resolve to make three, or at 
least two, discents and impressiones in different places 
of the land; the readdier to gather the country, and to- 
force York's men either to divide their armie, or to 
leev some places free to us; and for that effect to 
divide the persons goeing along, armes of all sortes, 
and aniunition fitly in the 3 ships : This Argyle long 
opposed, alleadging that wee wer too few to part ; 
but being pressed that if he should land in a strong 
country, (for wee knew well he intended for the 
Western Isles tho' he would not tell it,) the army 
would certainly tend towards him, and then anothe? 
party landing in some well affected distant place; and 
another in a more distant, the Duke, in the mean 
time, landing in England ; and friends in the north 
of England, joining with the sou therm ost Scotes pairty ; 
might very probably put York's counsells to some con- 
siderable demur, and divide his forces; and could 
hardly miss of affording the well affected in the coun- 
trey good conveniences for repairing to us, and good 
leisure to other places more remote, to rise in armes 
by themselves, after they should hear of any advantage 
on our side ; which wee intend likewise to concert by 
messages. I shall omit the struggling and too and fro's 
on this point, since at last the Erie condescended, 
provided wee should leev the places of descent to be 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 29 

resolved a shipboard: One thing I must remember,, 
which the Erie could not shift, that we might the 
more safely divide ourselves in landing ; that he knew 
of 5, at lest 3000 men, at the place of his landing 
to joine him, and his place so advantageous, as he could 
give Yorke's forces work for a year; and if they should 
all turn against him we would levie in free coun treys, 
and quickly be against them behind ;. if they turned 
against us, he might persue them, and we would take 
strong grounds till wee might come together- Then 
the question was moved in whose hands the authori- 
tative management of the whole undertaking on the 
Scotes pairt should be : The Erie seemed exceedingly 
stumbled at this motion, and after a long pause an- 
swered, I am resolved to doe nothing without a coun- 
sell of war, unless upon surprise, when there is no time 
to call a coun sell ; in which case, any generall in the 
world acts by himself: Sir John Cochrane pleaded 
the same, and joined with the Erie : It was ill taking 
that the Erie spoke of himselfe as generall, before he 
was thereto nominate by the undertakers ; yet it 
was not then challenged ; but it was answered that a 
counsell of war consisted of the officers, and their 
province was well and conionly known to be the 
military actiones in time of the armies' service; but 
there needs an authority above an army and counsell 
of war, to manage the whole intrest and undertaking; 
abstract from the counsell of war's business and, the . 



30 SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

ordering the particular actiones of the armies' service : 
For example, to manage and order correspondences 
abroad and at home; to declare the war, and publish 
a declaration of it ; to treat with enemies, if necessarily; 
to emit proclamationes ; to propose rewards; to apoint 
officers ; and generally to act the pairt of a counsell of 
state, in ordering the descents and impressions to 
be made; devideing the armes, afnunition, and men; 
ordering levies, and sending them to convenient places 
of the countrey, or keeping them together ; and many 
other things that might occur. The Erie said, would 
these few here take on them to act as representing a 
nation ? It was answered, that if persons here wer 
not rited to act in that capacity, they wer unfit to 
undertake so high an attemp, that ther wer severall 
here fitt for joining in that capacity with whoever 
should after join to them ; that such a power behoved 
to be lodged soiftewher ; our absent countrymen could 
not have it in hand ; so the present undertakers, all, 
or one amongst them, or some of ther number, must 
have it; but on one hand, so great a trust cannot come, 
or be advantageously exerted : therfore the gentlemen 
of intrest and best understanding must have it upon 
them, tho' they are but a few, yet so as when they 
land, and others such as they of intrest and under- 
standing joine with them, these should participate 
also with them in the same power and authority: 
This the Erie opposed mightily, to the great disgust 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. £t 

of all the rest, who exceedingly disliked the unlimited 
power and comand he aimed att : After much debate 
had passed, which I cannot get time to insert here, he 
said in the end, if any pairty, taking the chiefe power 
upon them, would furnish armes and amunition, and 
the expense of sniping and necessary provisions, h$ 
should willingly yeeld to such a motion from them, 
and goe along in what station they pleased ; but 
since all those things wer furnished by him, he 
would admit of no such thing, but would under- 
take the bussiness himselfe with such as willingly con- 
curred: It was answered, that what was furnished 
was not by him, but to him, for the cofhon cause ; 
and that his Lordship's interest in the provisions 
was only upon that account: that all undertakers 
in it had proportionally the same interest in them ; 
then he was desired to consider that the bussiness he 
offered to undertake was the concern of the nation, 
and so ours as well as his, wherin wee wer to see 
that the great interest at lest should not be damnified 
and put in a worse condition insted of repairing it: 
here the Erie fell mute and thoughtful]; but Sir John 
Cochran owned his opinion; and, all along in dis- 
courses, publicke and private, upon this point, was 
carried away by the Erie, and made to oppose us to 
the displeasure of us all, who knowing his worth and 
honesty, regreted this piece of weakness, and took 
much paines to draw him off; but there was no pre- 



32 snt Patrick iiume's narrative. 

vailing, though his son John, who al along tooke up 
matters aright, and shewed much freedom of spirit 
and sincerity of principles, did endeavour ernestly 
with him, and was necessitated to differ from him in 
joining with us: Afterward meeting among ourselves, 
the gentlemen sent some of our number, such as 
wer thought to have most influence upon him, to 
Argyle, for persuading him, but to no purpose, 
though much paines was taken and time spent 
that way : In end, the gentlemen being to meet 
together, be knowing of it, was the occasion of 
the coming of some, who it was thought would not 
otherwise have been with us, to know what passed ; for 
it seems by whatfollowes, our last words to him, that wee 
wer to see that the great interest did not suffer by what 
he should doe, did stick with him. At our meeting we 
discoursed freely, blaming the Erie's wilfulnesse in 
opposing a proposal so reasonable and necessary. 
Sir John Cochrane was so impatient to hear, that he 
rose in passion and left us ; we continued our dis- 
courses, at lenth one, I cannot now name, seconded 
by another, asked what would be our determination ? 
Some answered we would take leev and part, he urged 
would wee see others venter their lives for the religion 
and liberties, if our country and ourselves ly by ? 
I answered that we would consider if the designee 
of any to act in that bussiness wer rational and pro- 
bable, or otherwise : if they were likely to produce 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

good effects, or bad ; if the former, I supposed we 
wold not ]y by, but venter as far as any; if the latter, 
I supposed we would act the pairt of rationall con- 
cerned persons ; he pressed further, what if the last 
cais, we would doe, or what we could doe ? To this, 
others hesitating, I answered againe, that I thought 
it wer our duty to prevent the hurt of our nation, and 
the honest sufferers in it ; and to break any design ill 
laid, or not founded on solid grounds; and that it was 
in our power to frustrate and stop, and serve our nation 
in preventing its harm that way ; some blamed my 
freedome when wee parted, but wer afterwards con- 
vinced that it had a good effect; for the Erie hearing 
from those sent by him a full account, when some of 
us went to take leev of him to be gone, pressed them 
to stay, saying, it was very sad w r ee should not part 
as good friends, but rather resolving to goe crosse to 
one another, which would undoubtedly break and 
mine all ; they answering that ther was no help for 
it, he intreated them stay, and he would meet us in' 
the evening, and give us all satisfaction : They con- 
descended, came to us and made the appointment. 
In the evening, when wee wer together, the Erie, with 
Sir John, came in ; he discoursed that he was most 
willing all matters should be managed with conion con- 
sent, and never designed any other; but he had 
thought wee wer too few to take on us a high cha- 



33 



34 SIR PATRICK IIUME's NARRATIVE. 

i 

rooter ; but was now over that, and desired only, that 
points reserved to be consulted a shipboard might De- 
left till then, as wee had resolved before ; and so de- 
sired us to proceed : And in short wee there tooke 
upon us the character and power of a conion counsell, 
choosed Sir John Cochrane president for that time and 
clerk * : Then, after several discourses by the Erie 8c 
others, wee resolved the following points, and made 
acts upon them : 

1st, To declare and undertake a war against the 
Duke of York and his assisters, for restoring and 
setling of the true religion, and the native rights 
and liberties of the 3 kiugdomes. 

2d, That wee tooke upon us, and other gentlemen 
of our country in these pan ts, who should joine and 
goe along with us, the power and character of a 
counsell for managing the said undertaking, and all 
that related therunto ; so as when wee came into 

*" On the 17th of April there was a meeting at Amsterdam, at which 
" were present, the Earl of Argyle, Mr. Charles Campbell his son, Sir 
" John Cochran of Ochiltree, Sir Patrick Hume of Polwart, George 
" Pringle of Torwoodlee, William Denholm of West Shiels, George 
" Hume of Bassindean, John Cochran of Waterside, Mr. George Wi- 
« shart, William Clelaml, James Stuart, Advocate, and Mr. Gilbert Elliot. 
" Sir John Cochran was chosen preses for that time." Crookshank'u 
History of the Church of Scotland, Vol. ii. p. 369. 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

Scotland, others such as wee joining to our assistance, 
should also have access to and be joined in the said 
counsell for the said management. 

3d, Wee nominated and choosed the Erie of Argyle, 
to be generall of our army, with as full power as was 
usually given to generalls by the free states in Europe. 

4th, Wee appointed a person to draw up the de- 
claration of war, to be given in to our next meeting. 

In these things the Erie concurred very cordially, 

and Sir John, who, as president, subscribed the paper 

in our presence, and was appointed to keep it for us. 

Then wee spoke of the general termes of a declaration 

of war; and some wer desired to give in notes upon 

them, with there advice to the drawer; also persons 

wer pitched upon to be dispatched to severall places 

and persons in Scotland and Irland with messages, for 

preparing the countreyes against our landing as wee 

expected them to be concerned; & having at severall 

times discoursed the particulars, it was concluded, that 

such of us as had usefull advises in any particulare 

to give these messengers, should give them in private, 

and hast them away, since good opportunities for their 

passage then offered : And this last was quickly 

done, and they sent off: Some off us wer also coniis- 

sionated to call together the ministers at Rotterdam 

[ E 9 ] 



sb 



36 sir Patrick hume's narrative. 

for advice and concurrence in their station ; and all 
wer desired to make ready for sailing, which wee pre- 
sently set about. 

By this time the Duke of Monmouth having his re- 
turns from England, some of us went to him, and got 
from him full and satisfying accounts of particulare 
and good encouragements, and saw the letters he had 
received : We also comunicated too and againe with 
him what was done among forreigners ; and wee col- 
lected from all that no more needed be done at present, 
since wee had so good ground to beleev that France 
would not be suffered to trouble us ; but indeed wee 
had further hopes given if wee wer able to keep the 
feild but for a little ; the Duke pressed us to make 
haist, saying, he would be ready before us : Some of 
us went to Rotterdam, called the ministers together, 
and 13 having met wee proposed distinctly our de- 
signe, desired their opinion of it, and that some should 
goe along with us ; thej r , after advising together, de- 
clared their good liking <Sc approbation of our under- 
taking, as a great duty, and offered to join us as wee 
judged necessary. Wee pitched on some of their 
number to goe along, who condescended, and after 
did accompany us : Then wee set about the decla- 
ration of war, which, with much paines, and after 
many alterations and amendments, was concluded 
& aggreed on, so as all wer satisfied ; albeit some of 



sir patrtck iiume's narrative. 37 

us' did not please the exemplifying greivances men- 
tioned in the narrative, so much, as fitter to be re- 
served for fuller papers ; but others pressing it, they 
wold not oppose. In the mein time the amies and 
amunition wer divided, and put a-board the 3 shipes, 
as was resolved, but not so orderly as had been fit ; 
which came after to make trouble on taking out what 
was wanted. Coming back to Amsterdam, some of 
us, having satisfied the Duke of our declaration, wer 
called to consider that for England ; and after arguing 
& amendments settled it, and adjusted the two to 
one and the same purpose in the declarative pairt ; the 
narratives being fitted to the different circumstances of 
the two nations. 

All now being in readiness, 3 of us goeing to- 
gether to take leev of the Duke of Monmouth, he 
gave us assurance that the 6th day after our parting 
from Amsterdam towards Scotland, he and those with 
him should take ship for England ; he told us that he 
found Argyle was fond of the western isles of Scotland, 
and that wee thought it unfit to make stay there, but 
to haist to the Inlands; that he was altogether of our 
opinion, & intreated us that wee might hinder his 
stay, & get us quickly to the Lowlands ; for said he, 
if I did not know you are able to over-rule his inclina- 
tion in this, and to effectuate it, I should not stir a 
foot. Wee engaged to doe the uttermost wee could. 
Then, having resolved how to correspond with him, wee 



38 SIR PATRICK BUME'S NARRATIVE. 

tooke leev : upon the 28th of April, the last of us 
tooke boat at Amsterdam, and went down to the 
Anna, the best ship; wee found the Sophia lying by 
her, and many of our goods in scoites yet to be putt 
aboard : The David was fully loaded of what was 
to be put aboard it, and past the Vlie, having showen 
the passportes to the visitors, and got their pass, and 
so was clear to saile whenever the rest came up. The 
29th and 30th dayes wer spent in loading the Anna 
and Sophia ; the last day a large scoite came rowing 
round us, [* veing with prospects,] which we understood 
to be some of the Duke of York's English spycs: who 
after went in to the Vlie, and returned quickly to Am- 
sterdam. May 1st, wee sailed downe to the Vlie and 
put out the token for the visitors (appointed by the 
States to come and see our pasportes) from Amster- 
dam ; they not coming, the Erie proposed to saile on; 
it was told him that if we should break away 1111- 
visited, a frigate of war waiting there would fire on us 
and persue us ; and might probably sink or take both 
ours, not being of strenth to resist; beside, thftttfcose 
who wer to returne, and had served us so stcdally 
would be taken and ruined, if wee should escape and 
get away ; therefore wee resolved to send in to the 
Vlie those who wer to goe backe, and desire the visi- 
ters to come out to us ; if they refused or delayed, 
these sent in would save themselves bv witncssinji there 



r 



Sic. Viewing with telescopes is evidently meant. 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 39 

having desired them ; and if they came not to us by 
such an hour, wee would then saile upon our hazard : 
This the Erie said, they would come, but so as to 
man our shipes and take them, and he doubted not 
but the English consul had prevailed so far as to order 
that: Wee told him that was not likely, for ther had 
not been time to procure the States order, without 
which they could not doe it; also there was no frigate 
there, but one which waited on another account; 
and if they came with armed men in seoites, wee 
wer too strong for them, & would think small hazard 
to fight them. The Erie not being able to divert us, 
said he would leev us and goe to the David, and in- 
stantly did so ; which wee thought strange of, that he 
should take a place of safety and leev us on these 
termes : A little after, when wee wer a sending into 
the Vlie, wee discerned a flag boat coming, which, 
as we guessed, caryed the visitors; wee putt our 
men under deckes, and they came aboard us : Our 
merchants produced their passportes, and entertained 
them kindly ; they wer very civil, gave us their pass, 
and very heartily wishing us happiness, tooke leev and 
left us *. Wee presently sailed and got downe the 

* The observations of D'Avaux to his court, shew how imperfect the 
information obtained by the English and French ministers at the Hague 
about this expedition and that of Monmouth's was ; as well as respect- 
ing the conduct of the Prince of Orange, and of the magistrates of 
Amsterdam, which two parties appear to have agreed in nothing, but in 
not giving any interruption to these attempts. D'Avaux, Vol. iv. p. i8l» 
182. Vol. v. p. i. to p. 33. and p. 39. Note of the editor. 



40 SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

lenth of the David without the Vlie ; the Erie seeing 
us came quickly aboard the Anna againe, told us he 
had been visiting the David, found all well ordered 
there ; but it wer fitt one should be there of note 
& discretion to comand ; and if we would stay in 
the Anna, (for one was ordered in the Sophia some 
days befor,) he would himself go to the David and 
saile there. Sir John Cochran said that could not be, 
but his Lordship must be in the Admirall ship; but that 
he and his son would go thither ; this the Erie did not 
relish, saying he must be with him ; then I (under- 
standing pairtly the cause of the motion, there being 
already in the David fitt enough to comand, and re- 
flecting upon the heat amongst us before the Erie left 
us) offered myselfe ; the Erie was sattisfied, and said 
I might take 4 or 5 with me, whom I pleased : I 
pitched on 5 who I knew liked to be together ; and 
taking leev, desired the Erie that when any calme was, 
or convenience, the counsell might meet ; he said wee 
should, and would have time enough : As wee wer 
to goe, several gentlemen inclined to have gone with 
us ; but the Erie petting at it, forbare and stayed 
there : When wee wer got aboard the David, on Satur- 
day, 2d May, at 7 o'clock in the evening, all 3 
ships set off with full saile before the wind ; all the 
company wer as hearty as possible, and a more pros- 
perous gale was never seen ; for without coming near 
any vessel!, and seeing very few, upon Tuesday, the 
5th, in the morning, wee came to the mouth of Mur- 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 41 

ray frith : And the Admirall lying by, the other ships 
did in like manner : The Erie had thoughts of going 
up the Firth, but changed and set saile again for 
Orkney ; and on Wednesday, about noone, we came 
to anchor at Cairston, As wee wercomeing in, a boat 
went off the Anna to Kirkwall, with Dr. Blackader 
and Mr. Spence, who wer appointed to return to us 
the next day at noone; but that same night they wer 
scased on by the Bishope's order, and made prisoners; 
which wee got notice of next day in the afternoone ; 
This troubled us much ; wee went aboard the Admi- 
rall, & the Erie disowned the sending of them; only 
said he complied with their owne inclination, and 
since they wer goeing gave them some things in comis- 
sion ; but in all this no advice was taken; then many 
pf us pressed ernestly that all the shipes should saile 
before next morning to Kirkwall, land 5 boat fulls of 
well armed men, under the safeguard of our canon, 
and relieve our prisoners at any rate ; in respect the 
adventure was probable, and the danger not equal 
to the tash and affront so airely got, or to the loss 
of such two ; beside that to leev them, while in our 
power to rescew, would be great discouragement to 
those with us, who wer so bent on relieving them,, 
and to those wee wer to come at in the countrey, 
by the noise of it. The Erie and Sir John opposed this . 
motion vigorously, against much pleading to persuade 



4$ SIR PATRICK IKJMIv's NARRATIVE. 

them * : the Erie said he had thought of a way wherby 
the Bishop should be made glad to send them : Wee 
told, the Bishop though never so much inclined, durst 
not send them because of the State : But all could not 
doe; the Erie sent into Cairston, and surprised Mr. 
Stewart of Gramesoy, two Grames, brothers to Grame- 
shall, one Mowat, and one Croftes dwellers there, and 
made them prisoners : He himself wrote to the Bishop, 
and caused them write, that our prisoners might be 
sent for exchange of thern, and assured them, if 
they came not by 10 of Saturday morning, we would 
be gone, and whatever measure our two got, should 
be given to them : But though wee stayed till 2 af- 
ternoone, no return came, and the Erie would stay no 
longer; so wee sat saile towards the Lowes. The 
wind serving as wee wished it, wee came betwixt the 
mane and the isles till wee wer upon Argylcshire : 
The Erie sent his son Charles to some of his friends, 
who would not meet or speak with him, much less 

* Mr. Fox, relying on Woodrow, fays, * Argyle, with his wonted 
" generosity of spirit, was at first determined to lay fiege to Kirkwall, 
" in order to recover his friends ; but partly by the dissuasions of his 
« followers, and still more by the objections made by the masters of 
" the ships, to a delay which might make them lofe the favourable winds 
« for their intended voyage, he was induced to profecute his courfe." 
Mr. Fox's Historical work, p. 1 84. — It will be seen by reference to 
Woodrow how different an account he gives of many other matters in 
the course of this narrative. 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 43 

come near the Erie : Mr. Charles returned, and en- 
deavoured to put a faire face on things, but gave us 
the newes that all the gentlemen, friends to the Erie, 
wer prisoners or on bond at Ed r ; but that wee would 
not want cofrions enough. The Erie was discouraged 
at it, but especially that some of whom he expected, 
otherwise would not come & talk with him j yet strove 
to put on a good countenance : wee heard also that 
600 Highlanders of the Marquis of Athole's comand, 
wer spoiling Eyla ; a place wher the Erie expected 
many men and armes; and speaking with some of us 
together, he resolved to land their, and surprise them; 
so wee landed in the dark of the night, and marched 
through the country to Kilmelrow, the best towne of 
the isle, wher wee heard they wer, and whither we 
came airely in the morning ; but they had got intelli- 
gence and wer fled away, taking with them all the 
armes in the isle of any worth; leaving only a few trash 
which wee got, with a few men, whom 'wee armed and 
carried along with, us ; and sailed, the wind never 
failing us, to Kantyre, wher wee landed at Cambel- 
toone; ther wee printed our declaration, and the Erie 
did what he could to get men ; but, as in Eyla, they 
came also here very slowly, and as it wer by con- 
straint : But the Erie had sent Mr. Charles againe on 
the maine land to levie men, and had got some ac- 
count from him which pleased him: here we found 
some Lowlanders, honest intelligent people, who 
[p2] 



44 SIR PATRICK HtfME's NARRATIVE. 

joind heartily and for the cause sake (which to say 

truth was no motive with the Highland comons, for 

they neither understood nor valued that ; but kindness 

to the Erie prevailed with them ; a few others came 

as it seemed to get our new armes, and steall away ;) 

these, advised us to make haist to the Lowlands, as 

indeed we inclined much to doe, & ernestly pressed 

the Erie to think of it, and to hold a counsel ; he said, 

since we wer to get men here, and had hope of a good 

number, wee could not goe, but might send some to 

prepare the countrey ; as for a counsel!, there was no 

present need, nor could he get time to attend it, 

for modelling and arming such as came. His way 

here was to stay ashoare all day, still busied about 

something, and to return at night to his ship ; but 

obliged some of us alwise to stay in the towne upon 

some plausible reason of bussiness to doe : Wee in 

the mean time prepared dispatches for such as wer to 

be sent to, to try the readiness of the Lowlands ; and 

to them gave instructions, and sent them off' to several 

places. Mr. Ailloofe, Mr. Rumbold, & Mr. Griffith, 

English gentlemen that came along with us, wer here 

designed for charges ; Ailloofe and Griffiths Tor Collonel! 

and Lieutenant Collonell of a foot regiment, and each 

got a company ; Rumbold for Collonell of a regiment 

of horse, & got a troopc : Other persons, not to be 

named, got companies, being of that country, but no 

comission was yet given ; wee that stavd ashore, dis-; 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 45 

coursing together, it was moved that the counsell 
might meet & comissionate the officers already designd, 
and also such others as wer fitt for charge, as most who 
came from Holland wer ; that by the naming many 
Collonells, (for wee thought of naming no higher as 
yet,) Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, and Captains to 
horse and foot, wee might encourage & have the 
greater credit among the comons ; and that till we 
came in the Lowlands, wher these wer to make levies, 
they should march in one company of officers, with 
comanders for the interim, upon them ; and that for 
the coinand of all the Highlanders that could be got 
levied, officers of all sortes might be comissionate of 
their owne gentlemen who would joine us and accept: 
This motion Sir John Cochran resisted mightily, al- 
leadging it a vaine thing to comissionate Collonells or 
Captains, &c. without regiments, troopes, and com- 
panies, till wee came in the Lowlands and' got sogers 
(though most already designed wer in that caise) and 
as for the Highlanders, it was not fitt that any of us 
should medle to name officers to the Erie's men, who 
did best know the persones of his owne country, meet 
to cofnand : It was answerd, that the Erie might 
choose and name them, by what advise he pleased ; 
but the counsell was to give them cofhissions, and 
these two did very well consist ; but he would not be 
persuaded, knowing that the Erie aimed at the sole 
power of giving comissions ; yet he never adventured, 
to practise it, finding that it would not pass.. 



46 sir Patrick hume's narrative. 

In a short time, wee got very encouraging returns 
from the Lowlands ; and ernestly pressed the Erie 
that wee might divide, and some of us goe thither; 
he seemd satisfied, but withall told us that his son 
Char:, and other gentlemen, wer at Tarbot-castle, with 
1200 men ; and if we would saile the ships thither, & 
many boates wee had, he, with Sir John and a good 
pairt of the sogers, would take a land march throw 
Kantire, levie the whole country, and joine them ; 
and that then we might goe to the Lowlands with a 
considerable division of men (for it was not fit to goe 
too single) and he with another considerable pairt, 
would stay there, levie men, and act against Athole, or 
as occasione fell in. Sir John was for dividing and 
parting presently, but the Erie being wilfull, and the 
motion resonable he made, and the work but of 24 
houres, we wer most of us of the Erie's opinion ; so he 
marched, and we sailed ; came to Tarbot, and found 
our friends at a rendevous here : Wc made, of horse 
and foot, 1800 men : Here the Erie, in printing a 
declaration concerning himselfe, and in modelling 
the men, spent more time than needed (as indeed he 
did likewise at Cambleton) for all wee could doc to 
haste him on : Here also he got accounts of the 
oppressions that Athole's men did about In\ crarv, and 
tooke the fancie, the unluckie fancie, of beating Athole 
and his men from that place, before wee should goe 
to the Lowlands: This vexed us exceedingly ; we told 
him, that Athole having the castle, might keep it till 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 47 

he got succoures in dispite of us ; that his men would 
sculke and keep from fighting of purpose, till the 
inland forces and militia should get together, and 
incapacitate the best places of the country from 
joining when wee came ; and very likely either hinder 
our landing, or give us no time to gather, but force 
us to fight too soone. He answered that our shipes 
might sail to Lock Fine, and ly before the castle of 
Inverary to molest them with our guns, and the army 
might march by land, and fight them out. It was 
replyed, that the ships with our armes and amunition, 
could not goe ; for the English frigates (of which we 
then had heard that they wer at Aire) would easily 
come to Lock Fine, and catch our shipes and stores,, 
so as there could be no escaping ; and for fighting 
Athole's men, it was sure they wold retire from us> of 
purpose to keep us up in that place : He, finding so 
great aversion from that motion, both in gentlemen 
and seamen, said he was willing to goe altogether to 
the Lowlands, but the Highland gentlemen could not 
be inclined to leev their country under the enemies 
feet, and goe with us : Wee took what paines wee 
could with them, and desired the Erie that it might 
be proposed to themselves ; who getting them together 
proposed it to them, as a motion from the Lowland 
gentlemen :. They desired to goe apairt to talk among 
themselves of it, and very soon returned againe, and 
unanimously agreed that it was the best to goe to > 
the Lowlands; and declared they would leev that 



48 SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

country and their intrests, to what hazard so ever; 
for they doubted not that wee would see their damages 
repaired, if wee prevailed in the Lowlands; which 
was the place indeed to be reckoned upon for the 
support of our bussiness, and not the Highlands : 
Wee wer well pleased at this answer, and assured 
them of what they expected, if we should prevaile : 
The Erie said litle, but seemed determined, and being 
late, they parted. Next day he made a new motion, 
that he thought wee wer so many men as might serve, 
both to goe to the Lowlands with us, & stay with him in 
that countrey, as he inclined ; wherby he might get more 
men ther, chase A thole's men out, or at lest protect 
the countrey, and put the inland forces, or pairt of 
them, to be sent that way ; whereby wee in the Low- 
lands might levie with the more ease : Wee conde- 
scended heartilie to the motion, sate with him, agreed 
what men, amies and amunition should go, and what 
ship: He made a step out from us, and in half an 
houre after called out Sir John, and retreated from all 
condescended to ; which so madded Sir John, and the 
rest of us, that every one disccrnd great dissatisfaction 
amongst us; but provisiones falling scarce, wee wer 
almost forced from thence; so putt all aboard ships 
and boats and sailed towards Boot: On the wav tooke 
a timber ship, who had seen the English frigate the 
Fisher. In the evening we landed at Rothsay in Boot, 
& lodged there; next day people wer sent out to drive 
in kowes for meat, and some partyes to sevcrall places 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 49 

in the isle, Sir John Cochrane and I went in the Sophia 
and David, up Clide to Greenock, intending to get 
meat there for the camp ; wee discerned a strong party 
of horse coming toward the town ; when they came 
at it, I caused fire 2 guns, which putt them from their 
ground ; they marched up the hill : Sir John was for 
landing men, but I was against it, because wee had 
but few, and only 3 ship boates, that could not cary 
above 20 a-piece, at most, rowers and all ; yet Sir 
John sent two boats full with a person I had a great 
kindness for, Mr. Fullarton, comanding; I, seeing 
this, sent a boat full, and went myself in a litle 
pinace with other 6, all it would hold ; Fullarton's 
boate only was landed, when the pinace came aslioare : 
he drew up 12 firelocks in a little yard, seing as 
many horsemen coming towards him ; Jhonston of 'y c 
Jlk younger comanding the partie, held up a han- 
kerchief; wherupon Fullarton with 3 went out to parly, 
but while parlying, Jhonston fired on him, then ran off; 
the other fired after him, and as some other of the 
horsemen came up to fire, the other 3 with Fullarton 
fired, arid beat them off: By this time other two boates 
with men landed, and wee came, & joining Fullarton,. 
drew up the whole pairty together; but our great gunes 
played over us, as I had ordered, came near the body 
of horse, and made them reell; so they marched off over 
all the hill, & left us : then Sir John landed, and we 
went in the towne, and tooke some meal out of a 



60 sir Patrick hume's narrative. 

girnull, and a pretty barque out of the harbour, and 
returned to Rothsay. 

While wee wer away, the Erie had caused burn the 
castle, because a house of his had been burnt in Co wall ; 
this vexed us much, because it savored of private re- 
venge, and wee disliked these methods : Also he had sent 
Mr. Charles into Cowall to get some more men, but 
getting few, and wanting amunition, was pursued by 
Athole's men ; and leaving his party too inconsiderately 
to fetch some amunition, they iiiiediately run after 
him : Athole's men pursued, kil'd some, took a few 
prisoners, the rest escaping into Eylandgrig castle : 
This affront made the Erie more intent on fighting 
Athole's men, and backward of going to the Low. 
lands, so as wee wer put beyond all patience; so that 
meeting together, coiiiission was given by the rest to 
Sir John and mee, to treat with the Erie perempterly 
on the point; the Erie would gladly have shifted, but 
being pressed, fell in great passion : Sir John ceded, 
but I insisted in high termes with him ; so as he came, 
as afterward appeared, to suspect that wee would 
coinand the shipes, and goe without him : But he 
yielded not, only desired 24 hours delay, and he wold 
satisfy us all what he would doe; he went in boat 
[mediately, and viewed Islandgrig castle ; at his re- 
turne he told us, that the English frigates being on the 
coast, wee could not saile with our armes and amu- 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 51 

nition aboard to the Lowlands ; for beside that they 
might fall' on us at sea, and sinke lis all, we could not 
get time for them to lever and take out our store: but 
he had found a strong place wher to put our store, 
which was within so narrow rocky passages of sea, as 
no man of war durst adventer it ; and the castle in 
an isle within the lock, that no cannon could be brought 
to it by land ; and if we would saile thither to see it, 
he would take us by the Keiles of Boot, so as wee 
should have it in our choose still, whither to unloade, 
or goe loaded to the Lowlands; to which if we inclined, 
there wer such wayes of escaping among these Keiles, 
that in dispite of many shipes, wee might saile whi- 
ther the frigates should not discerne. Sir John yielded ; 
others advised to comand one or two of the shipes, and 
leev the admirall, and the two prises, & severall small 
barques with open boates, with Argyle ; and indeed 
wee wer masters of the seamen, who wer ready to 
obey us, whatever the Erie should contradict ; but I 
could not condescend to part in that manner. I per- 
suaded them to comply with him for these reasones r 
1st, That such a breach would be shamefull. 2d, That 
if we wer catched by the way, or not succeed in land- 
ing, or suffer in landing, the ruines of the affaire 
would be charged upon us. 3d, I did really believe 
that he would oppose us by force ; for he had cofhanded 
companies of Highlanders aboard all the shipes. 4thly, 

[G2] 



SIR PATRICK HUME S NARRATIVE. 

That his overture caried somthing of reason in its- 
alternative, if his suppositions hold : By these argu- 
ments they wer diverted, but John Cochrane, who 
caried worthily all along, with the greatest difficulty : 
Here wee got returnes from Irland, by our messengers 
jent from Holland thither, very satisfactory. 

Wee sailed neer Eylandgrig, straite and difficult 
passages indeed, saw the castle which the Erie was so 
fond of, and being asked how wee liked it, some told 
the Erie it signified nothing; I, having advised with 
the seamen, who told mee that the frigates might 
come up if well piloted, indeavoured to dissuade the 
Erie to put the store in the castle, as certainly being 
safer in the shipes ; he said I had not skill, but was 
much mistaken : This question was quickly decided 
by the frigates their blocking up the two passages 
wherby only our shipes could get out ; they being at 
the first piloted in, whither the Erie thought they durst 
not adventer ; yet he said still, they could not come 
the lenth of the castle, the passages being much nar- 
rower ; and indeed our shipes, tho' far less than they,, 
could hardly get up : Here was all the amunition & 
good amies put up, the castle garisond, and. an earthen 
fort built, on which our best ships gunes wer planted, 
none being above 5 or 4 pounders ; on a fancie, but a 
foolish one, that if the frigates should get up ; these 



sir Patrick Hume's narrative. 53 

guns would cut their shrowdes and tackling, at greater 
distance, than their 30 or 28 pounders would batter, 
the earthen new made fort. 

While the shipes wer unloading, and fort making,, 
the Erie comanded Collonell Rumbold with the horse, 
& Major Henderson with 300 foot, who marched by 
land to the side of Lock Fine over-against In verarie, and. 
so up the lockside to Arkinlas ; some 500 of Athole's 
men came marching about the Lockhead, a short way 
towards them; they engaged, and our men did well, 
killed severall of them, but could not force them to a 
closs fight, or from their strong grounds, where they, 
made a show of salying and skirmishing: Notice 
came to Argyle, who immediately comanded the army 
to march to Inverarie ward, for assisting our men, who 
wer said to be engaged and need aide. The volun tiers 
that came from Holland had chosen mee to leed them* 
as a modelld company, yet wer very averse from 
marching thither,, (though I ernestly pleaded to per- 
suade them,) alleadging plainly, that it was but a 
trick of the Erie to engage us against Inverary ; and 
that our pairty was not engaged ; yet I prevailed with 
them, by promising that if they wer not engaged al- 
ready, who wer there, and that A thole's men would, 
not fight us at our coming, I should instantly returne 
with. them, and take what course they should resolve 
upon.: The Erie hearing of their aversion, and not. 



Si SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 

expecting them along with him, but that they intended 
to pairt for the Lowlands; gave an order to the co- 
niander of the castle, and ordered of the fort and 
shipes in his absence ; that if any persons should goe 
away, he should disarme them ; but this wee knew 
not till wee returned. All marched about a mile, 
when notice came to the Erie, that ther was no en- 
gaging or forcing A thole's men to fight; and that they 
sought only to gain time : When our men assaulted, 
they tooke to the rockes and strong grounds ; when 
they retired, then they offered to pursue, and only 
skulked too and againe so, and seemed to intend no 
other ; so wee ifftediately marched back to Eylandgrig. 

The fort being compleated, the Erie resolved to 
march wher wee might get some victualls and pro- 
vision, which was fallen very scarce ; but still bent on 
Inverarie, would hold that way : Wee pressing still 
for the Lowlands, he motioned that all the lowlanders, 
gentlemen, and voluntiers, should be mounted on the 
best horses wer there, & with some loades of armes and 
amunition, march imediately to the Lowlands, by the 
head of Lock Long : Wee wer satisfied, but what fate 
was in it, he imediately, in less than halfe ane houre, 
resisted, and would needs have all goe one way : Then 
he offered to take the shipes, and adventer by the 
frigates, either the one passage or the other, and fight 
them ; and that in the mean time, the boates might 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 55 

steel] by with the rest of the men ; wee consulted the 
seamen, who said it was very madnes to offer it : "Wee 
had not one gun could hurt them, neither instruments 
for boarding, nor fitt men ; every gun of their's could 
sink us, and wee could not pass without musket shot 
of them, the passages wer so straite wher they lay. 
On these grounds* all most true, wee answered, the- 
attemp wer unreasonably disparate. Then he came to 
resolve to march to the Lowlands ; but many of the 
Highlanders wer run away with our armes, which made 
him ashamed, and to fret mightily,. & very ernest to 
make them up againe ; but truth is, wee could get no 
meat for whom wee had. 

After setling the coihand of the garison & fort, & 
great trouble in persuading the seamen to stay in the 
shipes> which .they wer ordered to sink, (if the frigates 
should pass the castle and come to them,) & flie into 
the castle ; we marched to Glen Durowle, wher he 
stayed three dayes, doe what we could, in the contrey 
hoping to make up men ; but insteed of that more 
run away watch what wee could. Then we marched 
another day to Lock Streen Head, & being forced to 
drawincattell of the country for meat, such as in 
that place came in to us, went almost all away ; and 
they who stay'd, having neither meat nor bread, wer 
sore straitend. Here the Erie finding the 3000 High- 
landers he had reckoned upon come very near 300 



w 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

spoken of (for they wer not above 500) besides the 
Lowlanders fled from the inlands to Kantire before 
our landing, who had joined us ; some more with the 
voluntiers from Holland then 300, was inexpressably 
damped and discouraged. Sir John and I endeavoured 
what wee could to encourage him, and haist him to 
the Lowlands, for the few with us wer hearty enough ; 
so wee marched and crossed Lock Long troublesomely 
in boats, and lay on the rockie side of it all night. In 
the morning came the whole men of the garison, fort, 
and shipes, with newes, that the frigets came up closs 
to the castle ; and laid open all their great guns so 
formidably, as made them (perceiving that they would 
quickly batter downe both fort and castle, and being 
certainly informed, that Athole with 3000 men, being 
advertised from the frigetes, was coming thither and 
within 3 miles,) haistely to leev the shipes unsunk, and 
the castle with the whole aniunition and armes, to the 
enemie, (the blowing up which the governor cofiianded 
and intended misgiving,) who got all in their hands. 

At this newes, the Erie and all our men wer greatly 
surprised and dispirited, but he marched on to Lock 
Gaire ; and here I had much adoe to hinder many of 
the voluntiers from parting downe Lock Long, to take 
their hazard in any Lowlands they should come at : 
The Erie intreated us by a message to come on 2 miles 
farther, to Lock Gaire, to resolve and take a joint 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 57 

course; with great work I persuaded them ; but at my 
coming, insted of consulting, Sir John told mee the 
Erie was resolved with all haist to march over Leven 
water, and fight the Lowland forces wherever wee 
found them ; he told mee also, the intelligence that 
Huntlj was coming up with many men to joine 
Athole, who would quickly be upon our heels ; that 
Dunbarton, with the standing forces and militia, was 
about Glasgow ; and presently, I found that all these 
newes were dispersed among our men, and they 
hugely disheartened: I told Sir John that was the 
madest course in the world, and gave the reason I 
afterwards exprest to the Erie; but albeit he saw 
all others convinced and of my opinion, he would 
not condescend, nor (such a faite was in it) so much 
as goe along with mee to reason with the Erie; so I went 
alone, & he telling me his present resolution, without 
asking my advice, I repeated the same things I had 
talked to Sir John & the gentlemen : That our armes 
and amunition being now lost with our ships, & our 
men thereby exceedingly discouraged, and most pairt 
run away ; it wer madness for us to keep together, or 
think of fighting the forces in a body, to lose the re- 
maine of our hopes in one desparate attemp; but that 
the best was, that he and his Highlanders should march 
bake by the head of Lock Long, wher he had said there 
was a pass, which 100 men would easily maintaine 
against 1000, to Argyleshire; wher he might probably 

£ = ] 



58 sir Patrick hume's narrative. 

get more men, and wher his Highlanders would fight, 
if any^ wher, being their owne intrest ; and wher he 
might easily shun fighting, and levieing the countrey, 
march to enemies' lands ; which might render, both 
Athole's men, who already wer breaking homeward, 
and Huntely's suspicins; and cause them either march 
together, for defending their oune, or els run away 
from their leaders to their oune countrey : But 
without doubt, he might recruit himselfe, by the whole 
harassed people about Inverarie, whence now Athole 
was parted, and through all Argyle and Lome ; and 
make a good shift till he should hear of us ; and that 
wee should divide the voluntiers and lowlanders, being 
within three hunder and fiftie in number, equally, one 
halfe to goe doune Lock Long in boates now ready ; the 
other halfe doune Lock Gaire, to land at 2 distant places 
very fitt, which I named, wher no forces wer at present; 
mount on horses, such as they could not miss of, for 
dispatch in marching ; and march to strong grounds in 
these countreys, that people might have casic get to 
us, and joine us : By this meanse, all should not be 
discussed at once; if one pairty wer broak, another 
perhapes might shift ; or it might be the Lord would 
help us to gather up our crums, and bring us together 
againe. After much more discourse, the Erie remained 
obstinately impersaudable, & as opinitive and wilful 
as ever : But said, any that would not goe with him, 
might doe as they pleased ; his intention was not to 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 59 

fight the enemie if he could shift them, but to march 
straight to Glasgow, and there doe the next best: 
Some wer forced to comply, who could not think of 
parting, but by consent ; and I againe persuaded the 
most unwilling, that we did not seperate. 

This Tuesday, the l6th of June, we marched from 
Lock Gaire and crossed Leven at night, 3 miles above 
Dunbarton ; having spent 5 weekes in the Highlands 
to no purpose, wherof the Erie alone was the cause ; 
for Sir John was persuaded by him to goe cross to us 
against his own inclination ; but this was the means to 
our ruine. We encamped on Leven side, and next 
morning marched airely, weary, and hungry enough, 
as I thought, to take the hill way for Glasgow ; but it 
proved not so. About 7 in the morning we discovered 
a great pairty of horse, on a litle hill top very near us, 
they sent off a detachment towards us; but some of our 
horse going of to them they returned. Having no intelli- 
gence, wee thought the whole army was behind, and that 
a fore pairty; and drew up ours in batalia, and stood to 
our armes above an houre : The Erie very discouraged 
came to mee wher I had drawn up the voluntiers ; 
asked what I thought best to doe, for he had just now 
intelligence that the army was not at Glasgow ; but he 
feared they wer not far from these horsemen, whom he 
considered as a fore pairty. I answered, it is not time 
now to make many words; send some horsemen to view 
[h2] 



6*0 SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

if the whole army be not there ; why doe wee halt 
our march? Let us not again stop our march; but 
since wee are now betwixt them and Glasgow, let us 
keep strong grounds,, and a strong rear-guard of our 
horse, and the volun tiers and Lowlander foot, and we 
shall be able to come thither in despite of them ; and 
if they come hard on us, that wee needs must, our 
whole body shall fight them ; he answered that is cer- 
tainly the best of it, I will doe it : So wee marched, 
and I kept the reare-guard with the volentiers. Our 
march was in very good order; and in a litle the scouts 
came in, and told us the party of horse wee bad seen 
wer only gentlemen and militia ; and that none of the 
army was there : But insted of marching toward 
Glasgow, Sir John had persuaded the Erie to march 
to Kilmaronock, quite contrary, but not far off, for we 
came thither about 10- o'clocke : I expostulated with 
him ; he said the men would not be able to march to 
Glasgow without refreshment ; (but they would gladly 
delayed it till their coming thither rather than lose 3 
houres inarch by that halt,) being over marclit and 
wearied already ; and in truth wee all greatly needed 
both refreshment of rest and meat; and he had caused 
provide very well of victuals, so as all had a sufficient 
maile ; but this halt proved rataJI. About 2 afternoon 
wee marched whither I knew not, but supposed to- 
wards Glasgow ; but indeed it was to the great road 
from Dunbarton to Sterling : The doeing this, & designe 



SIR PATRICK HOME'S NARRATIVE. 6$ 

of it, or reasons for it, wer concealled from mee ; and 
none in the company of volentiers knew the coimtrey, 
or whither they wer goeing ; and wee had not marched 
an houre, when some who had passed a litle burne 
and got up a litle hill on the van, discovered the 
army within a halfe mill of them, marching on the 
highway : Hearing this, I went over a horseback to 
view, found Sir John talking very high with the Erie 
of a brave advantage we might have of them ; I knew 
not with what eyes he saw them. When I came, and 
had observed them, & him to, he asked what was my 
advice ; I said, the same I had given before, to take 
the strong grounds, keep a good reare-guard, and not 
stop our march to Glasgow,, nor fight unless forced to 
tit. He said it wer ane inexcusable thing to let so great 
an advantage slip ; there was but a small pairt of the 
army there, and the defeating of them would make 
all the countrey flocke to us. I desired him remember 
how disheartened our men wer, how starved, how 
overmarcht, and how bent on Glasgow; also, what 
men wee could reckon would stand to it, not 500 ;.. in 
all wee wer not 900, and of these some wer still steal- 
ing off; and by what I had observed of them, many 
more would : Againe, that wee saw in view a regi- 
ment of red coat^foot, and severall troupes of horse, 
too strong for us to attaque; and I assured him, he , 
would find the whole army following toward Leven o? 
Dumbarton, upon intelligence of us ; thoe the covers 

& 



SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

of the ground kept us from seeing of them (as it after 
proved) and therfor since evening was approaching, 
and wee could without being seen of them, or suffer- 
ing our sogers to see them, put a great hill betwixt 
them and us, and let our horses be kerthing in their 
view, till the foot wer marched an houre; and then 
come off another way by help of guides wer there : 
The enemy, who wer taking a ground, would take some 
time to draw up ; and certainly not venter on the hils 
and mosses, topersue, till the next day. All this prevailed 
not, our men wer drawen over the burne in view of 
the enemie, and before wee could get them drawen up, 
wee wer we'll convinced that the whole army and mi- 
litia was there together; cSc our most inclined to fight, 
wisht to be off: Our men saw nothing but death ; yet 
truly the Lowlanders, except a few persons who slipt 
off and escaped, and some of the Highlanders, shewed 
abundance of resolution. The Erie came to mee, and 
asked my opinion of the ground ; I said I likt it not, 
and gave my reason ; but shewed him a better hard 
by, which he preferred, and said we should draw up 
upon it; but such was his confusion, that indeed wee 
wer never put orderly in batalia. Wee stood to our 
.armes till evening; the enemie encamped and kindled 
fires on thar ground, and so did we'e : But when our 
fires wer kindled, the Erie told us wee should march off 
quickly, through the mosses at the nearest to Glasgow. 
So wee marched with as much silence as we could : 



sir Patrick hume's narrative. 63 

at first in order, but that was suddenly quite, and our 
retreat became very fowle ; for the Highlanders run, 
& crowded on the Lowland companies, broke their 
order, that every one was apt to tread downe another; 
so ther was no safety but being off them behind or at 
a side ; wee marched hard the whole night, throw very 
bad, almost impassable ground : Next morning, being 
Thursday, June 18, wee came back to Kilpatrick, not 
above 500 men in all, sadly wearied ; soone as I got 
downe the hill, very faint & weary, I tooke the first 
alehouse and quickly ate a bit of bread, and took a 
drink, and ifhediately went to search out the Erie; but 
I met Sir John, with others accompanieinghim ; who, 
takeing mee by the hand, turned mee, saying my heart 
goe you with mee: Whither goe you said I? over Clide 
by boate said he : I, wher is Argyle ? I must see him : 
He, he is gone away to his owne countrey, you can- 
not see him : I, how comes this change of resolution, 
and that wee went not together to Glasgow ? He, It 
is no time to answer questions, but I shall satisfy you 
afterward. To the boates wee came, filled 2 and rowed, 
over; but a good troop of horse on Askine Green 
waited our landing, and came as near the water as 
they could draw up to fire on us ; & planted some foot 
men and firelocks* behind some dry boates lying on 
the shoar: yet they wounded only one man. Wee shot 
hard among them, beat the men from their dry boates,. 
wounded and killed horses, and made the rest well in dis* 



i?4 SIR PATRICK HUMES NARRATIVE. 

t>rder; so they marched away. Wee stay'd till such as wrer 
to come over came over, in all about 100 men ; then wee 
marched to a place to dine which I knew not; Sir John 
was busie, causing get horses taken, to help some of us 
in our march; and an honest gentleman who was pre- 
sent, told mee the manner of his parting with the Erie: 
Argyle being in the roome with Sir John, the gentle- 
man coming in, found confusion in the Erie's counte- 
nance and speach ; in end he said, Sir John, I pray 
advise mee what shall I doe ; shall I goe over Clide 
with you, or shall I goe • to my owne countrey ? Sir 
John answered, my Lord, I have told you my opinion; 
you have some Highlanders here about you, it is best 
you goe to your owne countrey with them, for it is 
to no purpose for you to go over Clide: My Lord., 
fairc you well ; then call'd the gentleman, come away 
Sir; who followed him when I met with him. Having 
got some country horses, about 10, such as wer lest 
able to walk mounted, and wee came to the place wee 
designed to eat at, upon a hill ; thi-ther the troope 
with some joined them persued us. Sir John would 
have us divide in three parties, and goe over a litle 
deam to charge them ; I would have them takeing 
meat, and sitting a gaird, on a stone dike to defend 
the deam by turnes; that wee might not loose time, 
but get at a strong moss, he intended to be at, before 
night ; but he gave me a reason to satisfaction. Wee 
drew up, marched out, and putt them from their 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 65 

ground; for they wer only come to dog us till more 
forces came up : Wee returned, and all who had gone 
out, about 90, (the rest being Highland men fled over the 
hill in our sight) tooke meat and marched presently 
to Luton bridge ; the troop keeping sight of us the 
whole way. We had stay'd but a litle there, when 
we got an alarm ; wherupon wee marched up the hill, 
and severall Highlandmen slipt away by the backs of 
the yaird dikes ; some took leev and pairted : Those 
who resolved to die on that ground, and to sell their 
lives at as worthie a rate as they could, march'd up ; 
and seeing themselves surrounded with squadrons of 
horse and dragoons, wer not at all dashed, but ex- 
pressed much courage : Wee had scarce time to take 
up a ground, in the place called Moure dikes, in a 
little closs of stubly ground, within a low ston dike, 
and to draw up, when a strong troop appeared to 
assault us : Sir John, who caried with as much 
bravery as any man could doe, conceiving the troup 
to be his nephew the Lord Rosse's, intended to have 
bespoke him, and had begun on horsebacke; but un- 
luckily one of our men fireing his gun, they fired on 
us ; and Sir John being interupted, got from his horse, 
and with abundance of danger joined our body ; & 
caried the markes of severall pistoll shot on his buff 
coate. Wee beat them off with sore stroakes ; yet 
only one of them lay on the place, in that charge, 
which was given upon our left hand : Then another 



66 SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 

party came ifhediately from the body above us, and 
charged on the right hand ; ours received them most 
courageously, beat them off id disorder with smart 
blowes ; and Captain Cleland who comanded, lay dead 
on the place : After that, the strong body below us 
advanced ; but our men wer very ready, and received 
them briskly, that they approached not to the dike ; 
& iniediately a strong troup on the left hand charged 
furiously, and got in over the dike, a litle below us, and 
charged us closs: But our men fired hard and home, 
run on them with that spirit, that they broke them in 
pieces, and beat them off' in great disorder ; for they 
caried sore blowes at that incounter; for I did perceive 
our shotes gall them. Ther horse charged no more, 
but some dragoons on foot came to charge on our 
right hand ; but wee quickly made them run to their 
hor.se : Then they planted on a dike above us, and 
played on us with rirlcd guns and firelockes, and wee 
on them ; by which ther was slaughter and wounds 
on both sides; and so night came on. Wee advised 
what to doe, and resolved that by night, wee would 
fall out upon the squadron above us on the right ; and 
if it wer possible, to get to a strong moss before morn- 
ing ; for we knew that they had sent for foot to fight, 
and overpoureus; but finding that they wer drawen 
off the ground, wee marched off quietly, unperceived; 
and marching all night, came to a safe hiding before 
the morning, wher wee lurked all that day. Wee had 
2 



SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE. 67 

no men kill'd in the action, but 4; few more wounded; 
but it was caried with that readiness of courage, that 
wer I to choose 75 men upon my life's hazard ; I would 
not reject one of that 75 (and no more ther was) that 
came of that night. The next night we marched againe, 
and came to another lurking place ; stay'd till night, 
engaged among us never to part but by consent : And 
late, Sir John got notice Argyle was taken, and his 
party quite broke; wherupon he came and told us, that 
now it was impossible to stay together, but we must 
pairt, and shift each for himselfe; so wee conde- 
scended, and pairted. 

And this narrative is true, not full, for I am forced 
to conceall names of persons, places, yea countreys, 
till a freer time. I have written this haistily, and had 
not time to correct errors in the write. 



■SfcjS- 



APPENDIX, 



N" i. 


N° 2. 


N°3- 


N°4- 


N°5. 


N°6. 


N°7- 


N°8. 


N°o. 


N°io. 



CONTAINING 

LADY Murray's Narrative. 

Letter from the Earl of Stair to the Earl of Marchmont. 

Refutation of Bishop Burnet's Charge against Monk, respe&ing the 

Marquis of Argyle's Letters. 
Account of the Persecutions of the Quakers in New England. 
Proceedings respecting the Application of Torture in Scotland. 
Observations on the Degree of Reliance to be placed on Bishop Burnet's 

Statements of Historical Fa£ts. 
Copy of the Enrolment in Chancery of Charles the Second's Declaration 

that he was not married to the Mother of the Duke of Monmouth. 
Paper containing an account of the Behaviour of the Duke of Monmouth 

from the time of his being taken till his Execution. 
Diary of Sir Patrick Hume ; in the March from Exeter to London in 

November 1688, with the Prince of Orange. 
Short Sketch of the Character of the Prince of Orange, by Sir Patrick 

Hume. 



w 



Appendix, N° 1. 

REFERRED TO IN SIR PATRICK HUME'S NARRATIVE, P. 4. 



INFORMATION respeaing the Concealment of Sir Patrick Hume 
under the Church of Polwarth, when he escaped from the per- 
secution of the Duke of York. 

OIR Patrick married Grizzel daughter of Sir Thomas Kerr of Caverse. Their 
eldeft daughter Grizzel was born at Redbraes Castle 15th December 1665. 
She when only twelve years of age commenced (as will afterwards appear) a 
very interesting intimacy and friendship with George son of Mr. Robert Baillie 
of Jerviswoode, to whom fhe was married 17 September 169a. 

Of this marriage there were two daughters — 

Grizzel who made an unfortunate marriage with Sir Alexander Murray 
of Stanhope, and Rachel who married Charles Lord Binning eldest 
son of Thomas sixth Earl of Haddington. 

Grizzel Lady Murray left a MS. wrote by herself, which is in the pos- 
session of the present Mr. Baillie — amongst other particulars it contains. 
" Facts relating to my Mother's life and character. 
« Mellerstain December 12 th 1749." 

[a 2] 



flv] APPENDI X, N° i. 

LADY MURRAY'S NARRATIVE. 

Sir Patrick Hume and Mr. Robert Baillie were intimate friends, and very 
strictly connected, from their being of the same way of thinking in religion 
and politics. 

When Mr. Baillie was first imprisoned, Sir Patrick sent his daughter, Grizzel, 
from Redbraes to Edinburgh, with instructions, to endeavour to obtain admit- 
tance, unsuspectedly, into the prison ; to deliver a letter to Mr. Baillie, and 
to bring back from him, what intelligence she could. 

She succeeded in this difficult enterprize ; and having at this time met with 
Mr. Baillie's son, the intimacy and friendship was formed, which was afterwards 
completed by their marriage. 

1684. During the period of her father's imprisonment, she attended to all her 
mother's directions. When Mr. Baillie was again imprisoned, Sir Patrick 
Hume thought it adviseable to keep himself concealed. 

The MSS. facts give the following Account of his Concealment : " After 
persecution began afresh, and my Grandfather Baillie again in prison, her 
father thought it necessary to keep concealed ; and soon found he had too 
good reason for so doing ; parties being continually sent out in search of him, 
and often to his own house, to the terror of all in it ; though not from any 
fear for his safety, whom they imagined at a great distance from home, for no 
soul knew where he was but my grandmother, and my mother, except one 
man, a carpenter called Jamie Winter, who used to work in the house, and 
lived a mile off, on whose fidelity they thought they could depend, and were 
not deceived. The frequent examinations, and oaths put to servants in order 
to make discoveries were so strict, they durst not run the risque of trusting any 
of them — by the assistance of this man they got a bed, and bed cloaths, carried 
in the night to the burying place, a vault under ground at Polwarth Church, a 
mile from the house, where he was concealed a month ; and had only for light 



APPENDIX, NM. [v] 

an open slit at the one end, through which no body could see what was below •, 
she went every night by herself at midnight, to carry him victuals, and drink ; 
and stayed with him as long as fhe could to get home before day. In all this 
time, my Grandfather shewed the same constant composure, and chearfulness 
of mind, that he continued to possess to his death, which was at the age of 
eighty-four ; all which good qualities she inherited from him in a high degree ; 
often did they laugh heartily in that doleful habitation, at different accidents 
that happened. She at that time had a terror for a church yard, especially in 
the dark, as is not uncommon at her age, by idle nursery stories, but when 
engaged by concern for her father, she stumbled over the graves every night 
alone, without fear of any kind entering her thoughts, but for soldiers and 
parties in search of him, which the least noise or motion of a leaf put her in 
terror for. The minifter's house was near the church ; the first night she went, 
his dogs kept such a barking as put her in the utmost fear of a discovery ; my 
Grandmother sent for the Minister next day and upon pretence of a mad dog, 
got him to hang all his dogs; there was also difficulty of getting victuals to 
carry him without the servants suspecting ; the only way it was done, was by 
ftealing it off her plate at dinner, into her lap : many a diverting story she has 
told about this, and other things of the like nature. Her father liked fheeps 
head, and while the children were eating their broth, she had conveyed moft of 
one into her lap; when her brother Sandy (the late Lord Marchmont*) had done, 
he lookt up with astonishment and said, mother, will ye look at Gr'.zzel ; 
while we have been eating our broth, she has eat up the whole sheeps head : 
this occasioned so much mirth among them, that her father at night was greatly 
entertained by it ; and desired Sandy might have a share in the next. I need not 
multiply storys of this kind, of which I know many. His great comfort and 
constant entertainment (for he had no light to read by) was repeating Buchan- 
nan's Psalms, which he had by heart from beginning to end ; and retained 
them to his dying day ; two years before he died, which was in the year 1724, I 

* The second Earl ; whose elder brother was then living. 



[vl] APPENDIX, N° i. 

was witness to his desiring my mother to take up that book, which amongst 
others always lay upon his table, and bid her try if he had forgot his psalms, 
by naming any one she would have him repeat ; and by casting her eye over 
it, she would know if he was right, tho' she did not understand it; and he 
miss't not a word in any place she named to him ; and said they had been the 
great comfort of his life, by night and day on all occasions. As the gloomy 
habitation my Grandfather was in, was not to be long endured but from neces- 
sity, they were contriving other places of safety for him ; amongst others, par- 
ticularly one under a bed which drew out, in a ground floor, in a room of which 
my mother kept the key : she and the same man workt in the night, making a 
hole in the earth, after lifting the boards ; which they did by scratching it up 
with their hands not to make any noise, till she left not a nail upon her fingers ; 
she helping the man to carry the earth as they dug it, in a sheet on his back, 
out at the window into the garden ; he then made a box at his own house, large 
enough for her father to lye in, with bed and bed clothes, and bored holes in 
the boards for air ; when all this was finished, for it was long about, she thought 
herself the most secure happy creature alive. When it had stood the trial for 
a month of no water coming into it, which was feared from being so low, and 
every day examined by my mother, and the holes for air made clear, and kept 
clean pickt ; her father ventured home, having that to truft to. After being at 
home a week or two, the bed daily examined as usual, one day, in lifting 
the boards the bed bounced to the top, the box being full of water ; in her life 
she was never so struck, and had near dropt down, it being at that time their 
only refuge : her father with great composure, said to his wife and her, he saw 
they must tempt providence no longer, and that it was now fit and necessary 
for him to go off", and leave them ; in which he was confirmed by the Carrier 
telling for news he had brought from Edinburgh, that the day before, Mr. 13 
of Jerviswoode had his life taken from him at the cross, and that every body 
was sorry tho' they durst not shew .t ; as all intercourse by letters was dan- 
gerous, it was the first notice ihey bad of it ; and the more shock! 
was not expected. They immediately set about p re paring for my Grandfather's 



APPENDIX, N° i. [vii] 

going away. My Mother workt night and day in making some alterations in his 
cloaths for disguise : they were then obliged to trust John Allan, their Grieve,who 
fainted away when he was told his master was ill the house, and that he was to 
set out with him on horseback before day, and pretend to the rest of the servants 
that he had orders to sell some horses at Morpeth fair. Accordingly, my 
Grandfather getting out at a window to the stables, they set out in the dark ; 
though with good reason, it was a sorrowful parting ; yet after he was fairly 
gone they rejoiced, and thought themselves happy, that he was in a way of 
being safe j tho' they were deprived of him, and little knew what was to be 
cither his fate or their own. 

My Grandfather, whose thoughts were much employed, and went on as his 
horse carried him without thinking of his way, found himself at Tweed-side, 
out of his road, and at a place not fordable, and no servant ; after pausing, and 
stopping a good while, he found means to get over, and get into the road on 
t'other side •, where after some time he met his servant, who shewed inexpres- 
sible joy at meeting him ; and told him, as he rid first, he thought he was 
always following him, till upon a great noise of the gallopping of horses, he 
lookt about and misst him ; this was a party sent to his house to take him up, 
where they searched very narrowly, and possibly hearing horses were gone from 
the house, suspected the truth and followed ; they examined this man, who to 
his great joy and astonishment misst his master, and was too cunning for them, 
that they were gone back before my Grandfather came, up with him ; he imme- 
diately quitted the high road, after a warning by so miraculous an escape j in 
two days sent back the servant, which was the first notice they had at home 
of his not having fallen into their hands. He got to London through bye ways, 
passing for a surgeon - r he could bleed, and always carried lancets : from that 
he went to France ? and travelled from Bourdeaux to Holland on foot, where he 
gent for his wife and ten children ; he was then forfeited and his estate given to 
Lord Seafortln My Grandmother and Mother went to London by sea, to so- 



[viii] APPENDIX, N° i. 

licit an allowance for her and her ten children, where they long attended ; and 
even though assisted by many good friends from whom they met with much 
kindness and civility, Lord Russell's family, Lord Wharton's, and others; 
all she could obtain for herself and them, was about 150I. a year; they then 
returned to Scotland, to carry over the children ; and found my aunt Julian so 
ill, she could not go with them. My Mother returned from Holland by herself 
to bring her over, and negociate business, and try if she could pick up any 
money of some that was owing to her father. 

Her sister was still very weak, fo had the attendance of a nurse all the 
voyage, which happened to be very long. She had agreed for the cabin bed, 
and was very well provided in victuals and other necessaries. She found three 
or four more in the ship with whom the captain had also agreed for the same 
bed : a Gentleman who was in the cabin, as they all were, said to her, let them 
be doing (when a dispute arose who should have the bed, for she made none,) 
you will see how it will end — two of the gentlewomen went to bed, the rest 
lay down as they could best ; my mother and her sister upon the floor, with a 
clog-bag of books she was carrying to htr father for their pillow; then in came 
the captain, and first eat up their whole provisions with a gluttony incredible ; 
then said to the women in the bed, turn out, turn out ; and stript before them, 
and lay down in the bed himself; but he did not long enjoy the effects of his 
brutality, for a terrible storm came on, so that his attendance and labour was 
necessary to save the ship : they never saw more of him till they landed at the 
Brill. 

From that, they set out at night on foot for Rotterdam, with a gentleman 

that was of great use to them, that came over at the same time to take refuge 

in Holland. It was a cold wet dirty night, my aunt, a girl not well able to 

walk, soon lost her shoes in the dirt ; my mother took her upon her back, and 

carried her the rest of the way, the gentleman carrying their small baggage ; at 

8f 



APPENDIX, N> i. [ixj 

Rotterdam they found their eldest brother, and my father, waiting for their 
arrival to conduct them to Utrecht, where their house was ; and no sooner were 
they all met, than she forgot every thing, and felt nothing but happiness and 
contentment. They lived three years and a half in Holland, and in that time 
she made a second voyage to Scotland about business. Her father went by the 
borrowed name of Doctor Wallace, and did not stir out for fear of being 
discovered ; though who he was, was no secret to the well wishers to the 
revolution. Their great desire was to have a good house, as their greatest com- 
fort was at home ; and all the people of the same way of thinking, of which 
there was great numbers, were continually with them : they payd for their house 
what was very extravagant for their income, near a fourth part : they could not 
afford keeping any servant, but a little girl to wash the dishes. All the time they 
were there, there was not a week my mother did not sit up two nights, to do 
the business that was necessary : she went to market, went to the mill to have 
their corn ground, which it seems is the way with good managers there, dress't 
the linen, cleaned the house, made ready dinner, mended the children's stockings 
and other cloaths, made what she could for them, and in short did every thing. 
Her sister Christian, who was a year or two younger, diverted her father and 
mother and the rest who were fond of music ; out of their small income they 
bought a harpsichord for little money (but is a Rucar *) now in my custody and 
most valuable. My aunt played and sung well, and had a great deal of life and 
humour, but no turn to business ; though my mother had the same qualifica- 
tions, and liked it as well as she did, she was forced to drudge ; and many 
jokes used to pass betwixt the sisters about their different occupations. Every 
morning before six, my mother lighted her father's fire in his study, then waked 
him (he was ever a good sleeper, which blessing, among many others, she 
inherited from him) then got him what he usually took as soon as he got up, 
warm small beer, with a spoonful of bitters in it, which he continued his whole 
life, and of which I have the receipt ; then she took up the children, and brought 

* An eminent maker of that time. 



[x] APPENDIX, N°i. 

them all to his room, where he taught them every thing that was fit for their 
age j some'Latin, others French, Dutch, geography, writing, reading, English, 
&c. and my grandmother taught them what was necessary on her part. Thu3 
he employed and diverted himself all the time he was there, not being able to 
afford putting them to school ; and my mother, when she had a moment's time, 
took a lesson with the rest in French and Dutch, and also diverted herself with 
music. I have now a book of songs of her writing when there, many of them 
interrupted, half writ, some broke off in the middle of a sentence ; she had no 
less a turn for mirth and society than any of the family when she could come at 
it without negle&ing what she thought more necessary. Her eldest brother, 
Patrick, who was nearest her age, and bred up together, was her most dearly 
beloved. My father was there, forfeited and exiled, in the same situation with 
themselves — she had seen him for the first time in the prison with his father, 
not long before he suffered, and from that time their hearts were engaged. Her 
brother and my father were soon got in to ride in the Prince of Orange's guards 
till they were better provided for in the army, which they were before the revo- 
lution. They took their turn in standing centry at the Prince's gate, but always 
contrived to do it together ; and the strict friendship and intimacy that then 
began, continued to the last : though their station was then low, they kept up 
their spirits ; the Prince often dined in publick, then all were admitted to sec 
him ; when any pretty girl wanted to go in, they set their halberts across the 
door, and would not let her pass till she gave each of them a kiss ; which made 
them think and call them very pert soldiers. I could relate many stories on that 
subjecl:. My mother could talk for hours, and never tire of it, always saying it 
was the happiest and most delightful part of her life: her constant attention 
was to have her brother appear right in his linen and dress ; they wore little 
point cravats and cuffs, which many a night she sat up to have in as good order 
for him as any in the place ; and one of their greatest expetices was in dressing 
him as he ought to be. As their house was always full of the unfortunate ba- 
nished people like themselves, they seldom went to dinner without three or four 
or five of them to share with them ; and many a hundred times I have heard 



APPEND IX, N°.i. [xi] 

her say, she could never look back upon their manner of living there without 
thinking it a miracle ; they had no want, but plenty of every thing they desired, 
and much contentment, and always declared it the most pleasing part of her life, 
though they were not without their little distresses ; but to them they were rather 
jokes than grievances. The professors and men of learning in the place, came 
.often to see my grandfather ; the best entertainment he could give them was a 
glass of alabastbeer, which was a better kind of ale than common: he sent his 
son Andrew, the late Lord Kimmerghame, a boy, to draw some for them in the 
•cellar; he brought it up with great diligence, but in the other hand the spiket 
•of the barrel. My grandfather said, Andrew what is that in your hand, when 
he saw it he run down with speed, but the beer was all run out before he got 
there; this occasioned much mirth, though perhaps they did not well know 
where to get more. It is the custom there to gather money for the poor from 
house to house, with a bell to warn people to give it. One night, the bell came, 
and no money was there in the house but an orkey, which is a doit, the smallest 
of all coin. Every body was so ashamed, no one would go to give it, it was so 
little, and put it from one to t'other. At last my grandfather said, well then, I'll 
go with it, we can do no more than give all we have : They were often reduced to 
this by the delay of the ships coming from Scotland with their small remittances ; 
then they put the little plate they had (all of which was carried with them) in 
the Lumber, which is paunding it, till the ships came ; and that very plaje they 
brought with them again to Scotland, and left no debt behind them. When the 
long expected happiness of the Prince going to England took place, her father, 
and brother, and my father, went with him; they soon heard the melancholy 
report of the whole fleet being cast away or disperst, and immediately came from 
Utrecht to Helvoetsluys, to get what information they could; the place was so 
crowded by people from all quarters, come for the same purpose, that her 
mother, she, and her sister, were forced to lie in the boat they came in ; and for 
three days continually, to see come floating in, beds, chests, horses, &c. that 
had been thrown overboard in their distress." At the end of the third day, the 



[xii] APPENDIX, N° i. 

Prince, and some other ships came in j but no account of the ship their friends 
was in *, their despair was great, but in a few days was relieved by their coming 
in safe, but with the loss of all their baggage, which at that time was no small 
distress to them. 

When they set out again, the eagerness of their expectation was augmented -, 
to hear they were all safe landed was the greatest joy they could figure to 
themselves ; yet when that happy news came, it was no more to my mother 
than any occurrence she had not the least concern in ; for that very day her sitser 
Christian died of a sore throat, which was so heavy an affliction to both her 
mother and her, that they had no feeling for any thing else ; and often have I 
heard her say, she had no notion of any other cause of sorrow but the death and 
affliction of those she loved, and of that she was sensible to her last, in the most 
tender manner. She had tried many hardships, wkhout being depressed by 
them, on the contrary, her spirits and activity increased the more she had occa- 
sion for it ; but the death of her friends was always a load too heavy for her. 
She had strong and tender passions, though she never gave way to them, but in 
what was commendable and praise-worthy. 

When all was settled in England, the children were sent to Scotland, and my 
grandmother and 6he came over with the Princess. She was offered to be made 
one of her maids of honour, and was well qualified for it, her actions shew 
what her mind was, and her outward appearance was no less singular. 

She was middle sized, well made, clever in her person, very handsome, with 
a life and sweetness in her eyes very uncommon, and great delicacy in all her 
features j her hair was ehesnut, and to her last had the finest complexion, with 
the clearest red in her cheeks and lips, that could be seen in one of fifteen, which 
added to her natural constitution, might be owing to the great moderation she 
had in her diet throughout her whole life. Potage and milk was her greatest 



APPENDIX, N° i. [xiii] 

feast, and by choice preferred them to every thing, though nothing came wrong 
to her that others could eat ; water she preferred to any liquor ; though often 
obliged to take a glass of wine,always did it unwillingly, thinking it hurt her, and 
did not like it. She declined being maid of honour, and chose going home with 
the rest of her family. Having had her union with my father always in view, 
their affection for one another increased in their exile, though they well knew it 
was no time to declare it (neither of them having a shilling), and were at no 
small trouble to conceal it from her parents, who could not but think such an 
engagement ruinous to them both j especially when in the midst of their distress 
there was offers pressed upon her by them, from two gentlemen in their neigh- 
bourhood at home, of fortune and character, who had done nothing to forfeit 
either, and with whom they thought it would have been happy to settle their 
daughter at any time : she earnestly rejected both, but without giving any reason 
for it, though her parents suspected it ; and it was the only thing she ever dis- 
pleased or disobeyed them in. These Gentlemen I have mentioned, were inti- 
mate and sincere friends to my father and her, to the day of their death, and 
often said to them both, she had made a much better choice in him, for they 
made no secret of having made their addresses to her. Her parents were ever 
fond of my father, and he was always with them. So great an opinion had 
they of him, that he was generally preferred to any other, and trusted to go out 
with my mother, and take care of her when she had any business to do— they 
had no objection but the circumstance he was in, which had no weight with 
my mother, who always hoped things would turn out at last as they really did ; 
and if they did not, was resolved never to marry at all. When he was put in 
possession of his estate by King William (which had been given to the Duke of 
Gordon) he made their engagements known ; and they were married about two 
years after the revolution : then my grandfather was in high favour, as he was 
well deserved from his great sufferings, and was made Chancellor of Scotland ; 
and afterwards made the King's High Commissioner to the Parliament, which 
was the greatest office in this country* 



[xiv] APPENDIX, No i. 

I have heard my mother, and many others say, that the great sweetness, 
composure, and even-ness of temper, my grandmother shewed in all her 
affli&ion, as well as in her high prosperity, was most singular ; that from the 
highest to the lowest of her acquaintance, none ever found a difference from 
the great difference of her situation. I was but ten years old when she died ; 
and tho' tenderly carest by her, lived much with her, and was her darling, being 
her first grand-child ; I can only remember, which I do now in a lively manner, 
the sorrow I was in when she died ; and cannot give from what I have heard, so 
good a description of her, as what my grandfather writ in her bible which he 
gave my mother, and is now in my possession. 



" Grisell Lady Marchmont her book, to Lady Grisell Hume Lady Jervii- 
" woode my beloved daughter. My heart, in remembrance of your mother, 
" keep this bible, which is what she ordinarily made use of. She had been 
" happy of a religious and virtuous education, by the care of virtuous and religious 
* parents. She was of a middle stature, of a plump full body, a clear ruddy 
" complexion, a grave majestic countenance, a composed steady and mild spirit, 
" of a most firm and equal mind, never elevated by prosperity, nor debased or 
" daunted by adversity ; she was a wonderful stay and support to me in our 
*' exile and trouble, and a humble and thankful partaker with me in our more 
« f prosperous condition, in both which, by die blessing of God, she helped much 
« to keep the balance of our deportment even. She was constant and diligent 
e * in the practice of religion and virtue, a careful observer of worship to God, 
M and of her dutys to her husband, her children, her friend>, her neighbours, 
« her tenants and her servants, so that it may justly be said, her piety, probity, 
« virtue and prudence were without a blot or st:.in and beyond reproach ; as by 
" the blessing of God she had lived well, so by his mercy in the time of her 
** sickness and at her death, there appeared many convincing evidences that the 
k Lord took her to the enjoyment of endless happiness and bli<i. She died the 
2f 



APPENDIX, No i* [xv] 

e1 ii O&ober 1703 at Edinburgh, and was burryed in my burying place near 
(( the Canongate church, where I have caused mark out a grave for myself closs 
" by hers upon the left side in the middle of the ground. 

« Signed MARCHMONTV' 

The sorrow her whole family and friends were in at losing her was very 
great ; she had her judgement to the last, her children were all round her bed, 
my mother was in such agonies of grief, she had hid herself behind the curtain 
of the bed, that my grandmother in looking round to them all did not see her, 
and said, Where is Grizzel ? upon which she came near her, she taking her by 
the hand, said, My dear Grisell blessed be you above all, for a helpful child 
have you been to me. I have often heard my mother tell this in floods of tears, 
which she was always in when she spoke of her mother at all, or of her eldest 
brother. 

My grandfather while in high station had frequent opportunities of shewing his 
natural humanity to those in distress, always remembering he had been so 
himself; amongst many, one captain Burd, had a process before the Privie 
Counsel, of which my grandfather was president as chancellor, for something 
that imported no less than his life •, the moment he appeared before him, tho' 
he had not recollected him by his name, he knew him to be the same captain 
Burd with whom he had been intimately acquainted in France, and had made 
part of the journey on foot from that together to Holland ; but the captain little 
suspected to find his old friend Doctor Wallace, sitting there as his judge, and 
had not the least knowledge of his ever having been other than what he then 
appeared ; my grandfather examined him pretty strictly, and with some severity, 
so that he was dismissed with the utmost apprehension of no favor ; my grand- 
father ordered his son Sir Andrew Hume, who was then a lawyer, to get 
acquainted with him, and bring him one day to tell his own case, which he did 
in fear and trembling, dreading the severity he had already experienced ; when 



[xvi] APPENDIX, N- i. 

they were alone he was telling his story without lifting his eyes from the 
ground. When he had done, my grandfather said smiling, Do you not know 
me ? upon which he look't up, cried out God's wounds Dottor Walace, run 
to him hung about his neck with tears of joy ; one may judge what succeeded, 
and the pleasure they had to see one another." 

The fails go on giving a particular account of Lady Grizzell's character, her 
attentions to her family and others, and proceed thus : 

f* She was unwearied and indefatigable in business, understood it well, and 
had the whole load of her own affairs, as well as that of many of her friends 
for whom she diligently watched every opportunity that might be of use to 
and had more pleasure when she was so, than can be expres:-ed. From her tender 
years she had been a constant help and support to her father's family ; not to 
name other things, I shall only mention the trouble she took from the time her 
brother Lord Pol warth went abroad in 1716. She had the whole management 
of his affairs all the time he was at Copenhagen, and Cambray ; the care of the 
education of his children, his eldest son A\e sent abroad, and with trouble and 
difficulty procured Mr. Maklorain, who was then professor of mathematicks at 
Aberdeen, to go along with him as his tutor. She brought the other two sons 
from Scotland, and placed them at a school in London, where she had even 
to the smallest necessaries in cloaths to provide for them, till it was fit to .-end 
them to Holland. She provided a tutor for them, answered their bills, and I 
will not say how much trouble and anxiety they cost her, since she did every 
thing for her father's family with the same zeal and affection she could do for 
her own. She went to Scotland every jecond year to sec her father, and when 
he wanted assistance in his old age, and could not take the trouble of looking 
after his own affairs, she took in and settled his steward's accounts, once at 
Kemmerghame, with a trouble and fatigue incredible for two months, from live 
in the morning till twelve at night, that she scarce allowed herself time to cat 



APPENDIX, N° i. [>ii] 

or sleep, settling and taking them from one that had long had the charge of the 
business till she half killed the whole family by attending her, tho' they kept 
not the hours she did. When in London she never failed writing to her father, 
or her sister Julian, who then lived with him, and took affectionate care of him, 
every other post ; sent him the newspapers and any book or pamphlet she thought 
could divert him. He retained his judgement and good humour to the last. 
Two or three years before he died, my mother was at Berwick with him where 
he then lived, and many of her relations came there to see her before she went 
to London ; as mirth and good humour, and particularly dancing had always 
been one chara&eristick of the family, when so many of us were met (being 
uo fewer than fourteen of his children and grandchildren) we had a dance : He 
was then very weak in his limbs and could, not walk down stairs, but desired to 
be carried down to the room where we were, to see us ; which he did with 
great chearfulness, saying tho' he could not dance with us, he could yet beat 
time with his foot, which he did, and bid us dance as long as we could, that it 
was the best medicine he knew, for at the same time that it gave exercise to the 
body, it cheared the mind. At his usual time of going to bed, he was carried up 
stairs, and we ceased dancing, for fear of disturbing him ; but he soon sent to 
bid us go on, for the noise and musick so far from disturbing that it would lull 
him to sleep. He had no notion of interrupting the innocent pleasures of others 
tho' his age hindered him to partake of it. His exemplary piety and goodness 
was no bar to his mirth, and he often used to say none had so good reason to be 
merry and pleased, as those that served God and obeyed his commandments. 

He died of a. fever in the 84 th year of his age 1724. None of our family were 
in Scotland, but Lord Binning, who came to him the first notice from Lady 
Julian of his illness., and attended him to the last ; as he was sitting by his 
bedside not many hours before he expired, he saw him smiling, and said, My 
Lord, what are you laughing at. He answered, I am diverted to think, what a dis- 
appointment the worms will meet with, when they come to me expecting a good 



[xviii] APPENDIX, N» U 

meal, and find nothing but bones. He was much extenuate, and had always 
been a thin clever man. He went off without a gioan, and seemed to rejoice 
in the expectation of his end. 

She and her husband went to Oxford for the education of their grandsons, the 
late earl of Haddington and his two brothers, where Mr. Baillie died 6 th August 
1738, and altho' Oxford was after her husband's death a most melancholy and 
disagreeable place to her, she (as it was thought fit for her grandsons) remained 
there for near two ytixt after Mr. Baillie's death. 

The following is an historical character of the Honb 1: George Baillie 
Esq., by George Cheney Doctor of Medicine and Fellow of the 
Royal Society. 

Sunday August 6, I 738. Died at Oxford in the 75 ' year of his age the 
Honourable George Baillie of Jerviswoode esquire, descended from an ancient 
and virtuous family in North Britain. He was a gentleman who in this corrupt 
age did honor to human nature, and was a great instance (according to nv 
observation) of the efficacy of the grace, wisdom and power of the Almighty. 

At one and the same time, he was a most zealous patriot, a very able states- 
man, and a most perfect christian, that this or any age has produced ; piety, 
charity, justice, and truth, being the basis of all his private resolves aud public 
transactions. He considered mankind as his family, and each individual as his 
child and as the image of his heavenly father. He continued steadily in hi» 
own church and principles when at home, and in his country, /discouraging in- 
difference and wavering, in the external, as well as internal life of religion, but 
without rigidness and narrowness of soul ; believing charity to be one of die 
cardinal virtues, and a guarded freedom essential to our unlapsed, and recovered 
natures. I had the honor of an intimate acquaintance with him for the last 
thirty years of his life. I have studied him in all die various scenes he passed 

2t 



APPENDIX, M° i. ^ ix] 

thro'; in posts of great honour, in the troubles of private life, in health' and 
in sickness, in business and retirement ; and with great truth I can affirm, that 
in all the several scenes I never knew his superior in solid virtue and just 
thinking. 

His courage was undaunted, and his patience immoveable, his piety unfeigned 
and his truth exaa to the greatest precision. Having been bred in the school of 
affiaion, his compassion was never denied to those who were in diftress even by 
their own indiscretions. He spent the last twelve years of his life, in constant 
meditation, contemplation, and prayer. It was truly a life hid with Christ in 
God. He passed through several states of purification and severe trial, unknown 
to common and unexperienced christians. 

His father (a few hours before his life must have been ended by the hardships 
of his confinement) was for his love to his religion and country, most barba- 
rously put to death by the severity of the then administration, and the madness" 
of the times, whereby his estate was forfeited, and his son obliged to retire into' 
Holland. Coming into England with the Prince of Orange, he narrowly- 
escaped perishing at sea, on which account all his life after he kept a rigorous 
fast once every week, spending the whole day in meditation, prayer, and praises 
to his deliverer. During all the times of 'his great and arduous employments, 
he never failed morning and night to retire a considerable time to his closet, 
and prostrate himself before his maker. His faith and trust that the children of 
the righteous should never want bread, was so firm, that in all his difficulties 
and misfortunes, he never saved any thing for fear of want (when the expence 
was charitable, necessary or decent) and in his prosperity he never squandered 
away any thing ostentatiously or uselessly. 

His private charities were as great and extensive, as they were secret and 
constant. In short, in his rank and order, under the present lapse of human 



[xx] APPENDIX, N 9 i. 

nature, and the flagrant corruption of this age and nation, he was in eveTy thing 
a most perfect example to his family, to his friends and to his country. 

Bath, August 12, 1738. 

The account given of Lady Grizzell's death is as follows ; 

" She had been ill of a cold that was epidemical, but was down stairs the 
week before she died, was confined to her bed but a few days, and hud her 
senses entire to the last j two days before she died we were all in the room — 
She said, My dears, read the last chapter of Proverbs. You know what it is. 
To have her grandsons happily married, lay near her heart ; and I imagine it 
was with regard to that she said it. I think it a very strong picture of herself, 
and if ever any deserved to have it said of them, she does. The next day she 
called me, gave directions about some few things •, said she wished to be carried 
home to lye by my father, but that perhaps it might be too much trouble and 
inconvenience to us at that season, therefore left it to me to do as I pleased ; 
but that in a black purse in her cabinet, I would find money sufficient to do it, 
which she had kept by her for that use, that whenever it happened it might not 
streigthcn us : — She added, I have now no more to say, or do ; tenderly embraced 
me, and laid down her head upon the pillow, and spoke little after that." 

Can my sorrow be utterable after such a loss. I am certain no number of 
years allotted me to live, can ever make me feel less cither of grief or wonder, 
when I reflect on her whole conduct. Her whole family was round her bed, 
and shewed a lively sense of what they lost when she breathed her tot. My 
sister, who had been long ill, was carried out of her bed to attend heT ; but 
we were both almost incapable of doing the last duties to her, but that Lady 
Stanhope * supplied, with the same tender dutifulness she had ever behaved to 

* She is still living ; her mother was second daughter of Lady Grizzel Bailey ; and 
of course, she is great-giand-daughtcr to Patrick the first Earl of Marchmont ; The 
present Earl Stanhope ii her son. 



APPENDIX, N° i. [xxi] 

her, and with a fortitude uncommon at her age ; stretched and dressed her, in 
the manner she had always directed j which was in her ordinary night cloaths, 
and then rolled in a sheet i all which she did, without letting another hand 
touch her ; for which, and her tender care and concern for her mother and me, 
I doubt not God will reward her, by the dutifulness of her own child. My 
mother had always expressed a dislike of the method in London, of delivering 
over to the Undertakers for funerals, any one that died, to be ordered by them, 
as they thought proper ; therefore, we were desirous that none such should 
come about her, or touch her ; nor was she ever left by some of her family, 
till they saw the lead coffin soudered down ; though it rent the heart to be 
witness to it, we were all there to see the last thing done that was in our 
power. 

The concern and agitation of mind, I have been under the whole time of my 
writing of this, and when ever I set about it, makes me very unfit to do it at 
all ; but my desire of putting in writing so many surprising and uncommon 
truths, which no body else had the same access to know, made me undertake 
it. I here declare, whatever I have said, to the best of my knowledge, to be 
strictly just and true ; but far less than I think the subject deserves. 

Lady Grizzel Baillie was buried at Mellerstain by the side of her husband— 
The following inscription, which is engraved on marble and placed on her 
monument, was written by Judge Burnet, who knew her welL 

Here Lieth 
The Right Honourable Lady Grisell Baillie 
wife of George Baillie of Jerviswoode Esq r . 
Eldest daughter of the R. Honb le Patrick Earl of Marchmont. 

A Pattern to her Sex, an honour to her Country, 

She excelled in the Characters of a daughter, a wife a mother. 

While an Infant 

At the hazard of her own,, she preserved her father's life 



[xxii] APPENDIX, N° i. 

Who under the rigorous persecution of Arbitrary Power 

Sought refuge in the close confinement of a tomb 

Where he was nightly supplied with necessaries conveyed by her 

With a caution far above her years, 

A courage almost above her Sex, 

A real instance of the so much celebrated Roman Charity. 

She was a shining Example of Conjugal Affection 

that knew no dissension, felt no decline, 

during almost a fifty years union, 

The dissolution of which she survived from duty not choice. 

Her Conduct as a Parent 

Was amiable, exemplary, successful, 

To a Degree not well to be exprest, 

Without mixing the praises of the Dead with those of the living 

Who desire that all praise but of her should be silent. 

At different times, she managed the affairs 

Of her father, her husband, her family, her relations, 

With unwearied application, with happy Economy, 

As distant from avarice, as from prodigality. 

Christian Piety, Love of her Country, 

Zeal for her friends, Compassion for htr Enemies 

Cheerfulness of Spirit, Pleasantness of Conversation 

Dignity cf Mind, 

Good Breeding, Good Humour, Good Sense 

Were the daily ornaments of an useful life, 

Protracted by Providence to an uncommon length, 

For the benefit of all who fell within the sphere of her benevolence 

Full of Years and of Good Works 

She died on the 6 th day of Decern' 1746 

near the End of her Eighty first Year. 

And was burried on her birth day the 25 th of that month 



APPENDIX, N» i. [xxiii] 

Lord Cornbury writing to Lady Hervey on Lady Grizzel's death, said 
** Indeed I am sorry that we shall see our good old friend no more, I am sorry 
« we shall partake no more in the society of that hospitality, that benevolence, 
" that good humour, that good sense, that chearful dignity the result of so 
<c many virtues which were so amiable in her, and what did so much honour 
" to humanity ; and I am very sorry for what those must suffer at present whom 
" she had bred up to have affections, and who had justly so much for her." 



(xxiv] APPENDIX, N°2« 



Appendix, N° 2. 



REFERRED TO IN INTRODUCTION, P. XXX1U. 



LETTER of the EARL OF STAIR to the EARL OF MARCHMONT. [m] 

My dear Lord, Edinburgh," December 10, 1736. 

I AM infinitely obliged to your Lordship for your Letter of the If* of 
November from Bath, which I received yesterday by your servant. I am very 
glad that you said your company had arrived safe there and in good health. I 
am persuaded your going about will do your Lordship great good. 

I wish you could have persuaded our friend the Duke of Montrose to go into 
a warmer climate, which I think is the best way to re-establish his health, which 
I think of great value to his country as well as to his friends. I need not tell 
you how much I respect him for his superior virtue. I love him for having 
every good quality that one could desire in a patriot or wish for in a friend : I 
wish that he and you may be long preserved, tho' I cannot foresee that it will 
ever be in the power of the best men to do any good, that balance of Power is 
so much destroyed by the weak and wicked measures of our Ministers that I'm 
afraid there is very little hopes, if any, of restoring it again, and upon that 
balance, the wealth and independency of this nation does depend, as every day 
will more clearly convince us ; however as one does not know the secret Spring* 

(a) This was the Father of the last Earl ; the latter was Lord Pohvarth, and in the 
House of Commons at the time. 



APPENDIX, N° 2. ' [xxv] 

that Providence may work by it, it is to be wished that good men may 
be preserved. I am glad you have seen H. R. H. the only hopes men 
that wifh well to their country can have is in his thinking right and a&ing ac- 
cordingly. 

The reproach I know is flung upon us daily from a certain place of our being 
Jacobites, does not affect me any other way than by the prospect of what may be 
the case when our Government shall come to have nothing to depend on, but the 
assistance of their new listed friends, and some of their old ones, whose 
fidelity they have already experienced in cases of former danger. For myself, I 
am not surprized that some people should endeavour to defame me — my little 
reputation can be of no value to Sir R l . further than that it is a kind of contra- 
diction to his general rule, that there is really no such thing as virtue, and that 
every man will do every thing, if you will but pay him his price: As to the 
story you mention, 'tis very agreeable to the common practice of a certain great 
Man to graft a lye upon a stock of truth : The fact I am accused of is true my 
Lord ; and I am very far from being ashamed of having carried a message 
which I think did great honour to the man that sent it. I wonder I never told 
you the story — I have at different times related it to several other of my 
friends. I shall relate you the fact, in a few words, as it really happened. 

In the year 171 r, after Lord Godolphin was turned out, and Earl Oxford was 
Treasurer, some time before the undertaking the siege of Bouchain, the Duke 
of Marlborough came to my quarters when I was very ill of an ague ; and in a 
very long conversation regretted the unlucky situation of the affairs of the grand 
alliance, and expressed great fear that after all the blood and treasure that had 
been employed in a long and successful war, to reduce the exorbitant power of 
France and to restore the balance of Power in Europe, he said he was very appre- 
henfive that the first of all those labours might be lost 5 especially by his con- 
tinuing to command the Confederate Army, having lost the Queen's favour, 



[xxvij APPENDIX, fc°a. 

and being deprived of the confidence of her Ministers; — to remedy these great 
inconveniences, he told rne he thought of proposing two things to my Lord Oxford 
— the first, that he should have leave to retire ; and that they fhould put another 
man at the head of the army, in whom the Queen might have entire confidence, 
to pursue the ends of the grand Alliance till the War could be ended by a Peace 
glorious to the Queen, advantageous to the Nation,, and safe for all the rest of 
Europe ; in which case he said he would go home with great pleasure, and 
heartily pray for the success of the Queen's affairs in the hands of the new 
General. The second point was, that if it was thought the Duke of Marlborough 
could be more useful at the head of the Confederate Army than any other, he 
was very willing to continue at the head of the Army, the Queen's confidence 
being restored to him, and to Jive with Lord Oxford as he had done with Lord 
Godolphin. I having agreed very much with what my Lord Marlborough pro- 
posed, his Grace wrote a letter to Earl Oxford in the terms I have mentioned 
above ;. he desired roe to carry the letter, which he shewed me, to Lord Oxford \ 
and that I would speak to his Lordship in the same style, and endeavour to pro- 
cure an answer as soon as possibly I could. I went to London and delivered 
my Lord Marlbro's Letter to Lord Oxford.-, after many delays I had at last 
a very free conference with his Lordship ; in which he spoke with great 
freedom and plainnesse to me. : I thought by all my Lord said, our conveTsatiou 
was to have ended in establishing a very good understanding between my Lord 
Treasurer and the Duke of Marlborough •, but his Lordship in the end thought 
fit to say, that he must defer declaring his final resolution upon the whole matter 
till our next conversation, which he faithfully promised me should happen in a 
very few days. 

The detail of this conversation was extremely curious and very well worth 
your knowledge ; but I must delay giving it you at present ; if ever we happen 
to meet I shall give you a full account of it. From day to day I put my Lord 
Oxford in mind of finishing our conversation, but to no purpose. In that i*- 



APPENDIX, N« ». txxvii] 

terval Mr. Prior had sent you back from France, what they call a carte blanche 
for settling all the differences in Europe ; and in the end I was allowed to go 
back to the siege of Bouchain with a bamboozeling letter from my Lord 
Oxford to the Duke of Marlborough. At the end of the Campaign 17 11 the 
Duke of Marlborough was turned out, and the Duke of Ormond sent to com- 
mand the army : what followed, 'till the death of Queen Anne, your Lordship 
knows very well, and particularly whether at any time, or upon any occasion, 
my conduct was in any degree ambiguous. As to that point I dare speak to Sir 
Robert himself, whether I was to be sold, or whether there was any part of 
that Tory Ministry that would not have been fond of buying me at any price ? 
But as to the Message I carried, which is the point in queftion, I never denied 
it, at no time, and I am very far from being ashamed of it now. I thought 
that the happy conclusion of the war, was the end that every honest man that 
loved his Country ought to propose to himself. When the Duke of Ormond 
came to command the army, I would have served with great zeal under him 
against France ; but when our Ministry thought fit to fling themselves into the 
anus of France, and to separate our army from that of our Allies, I appeal to 
your Lordship, whether I made any servile court at that time, or in the succeed- 
ing year, for my own private advantage. In the late reign, possibly I had 
greater temptation than any man ever had to be a Frenchman, but I will appeal 
even to Sir Robert, who may be master of all my public letters and most of 
my private letters, whether I ever swerved one moment from my duty to my 
King and to my Country ; whether I did not at all times advise our Court to 
be jealous of France, and to lean strongly against her growing power. 

In this reign, I have held the same conduct — your Lordship knows if I have 
not at all times, in season and out of season, to the Queen and to the Minister, 
represented the pernicious consequences of uniting the Houses of Bourbon, and 
ef increasing their power. 

[da] 



[xxviii] APPENDIX, N" 2. 



I need say nothing to your Lordship in justification of my conduct'in domestic 
affairs j the motives that determined your Lordship and me to oppose the mea- 
sures of the Minister were the same — we thought that the Minister's prospects 
to alter the Constitution, by diminishing the power and independency of parlia- 
ments, and increasing the power of the Crown, were equally hurtful and dan- 
gerous to all our fellow subjects and their posterity for ever, and to the true 
interest of the Royal Family itself ; we had seen King James lose the Crown, for 
endeavouring to introduce arbitrary power, and we were apprehensive that at- 
tempts of the like nature, might be of dangerous consequence to the Protestant 
Succession in the House of Hanover. 'Tis very true, that in the opposition we 
have made to the Minister's measures, we have had the assistance of many 
persons who have been called by name of Torys ; but I am very far from 
being ashamed to take the assistance of Torys to preserve our Constitution ; 
and I defy Sir Robert to say, that I joined in the opposition to his Measures, 
because he refused to gratify my avarice or my ambition — but this Letter is 
already swelled to a length I'm afraid will be tiresome to you — you'll have 
difficulty to read it, especially the beginning of it, which is wrote with ill 
ink. 

There is one circumstance in your Letter I had forgot to answer, and that is 
this story having been laid to my charge by a very great person in presence of 
Lord J. — I do not remember that that person ever spoke to me of the story : — I 
am pretty sure they never did ; but I am very sure that person, nor any other, 
ever spoke to me upon that subject before Lord J. I have never had any commu- 
nication with that great man since the first weeks of King George die Firit's 
accession to the Crown. 

I can tell you nothing new from hence, our Army is going into Winter 
quarters, and after all the rout has been made about Porteous his murder, the 
inquiry about the matter is to fall to the ground, which I think is something more 
extraordinary than ever was seen in any country, to let such an insult upon a 
Government go unpunished. 



APPENDIX, N« 2. [xxix] 

I beg you to give my hearty service to your friends at Bath ; I wish you may 
all pass the Winter agreeably and in good health. 

It will always be a very great pleasure to me to keep a correspondence with 
you. I can assure you with great truth that there is not one man living that loves 
and honours you more than your most faithful servant 



STAIR. 



Lady Stair and Mrs.Primerose order me to assure 
your Lordship of their service. I beg you to give 
my hearty service to Mr. Pulteney ; I am very glad 
to hear he is so well recovered. I don't wonder 
that the present situation of our affairs, foreign 
and domestic, do not give a great deal of Spirit 
to a man who knows so much of them as he 
does. 



Cxxx] APPENDIX, N° 3. 



Appendix, N° 3. 

REFERRED TO IN THE OBSERVATIONS, P. I5. 



REFUTATION of Bishop Burnet's Charge against Monk, that he pro- 
duced confidential Letters of the Marquis of Argyle, on his Trial, 
which led to his Condemnation. — From the Biographia Britannica, 
p. 1153, 1 st Edition. 

XT is very clear, that what Bishop Burnet relates, concerning the transactions of 
these times, he must have received from other people, and that several years 
after; for at the time of the Marquis of Argyle's death he could not be much 
above eighteen years old; we need not wonder, therefore, that in the circum- 
stances relating to great events, before those times, in which he came to have a 
share in business, he might be misinformed, for that is all that either is or ought 
to be contended for on this occasion. After giving us an account of a very 
learned speech prepared by the Earl of Loudon, and which Craufurd tells u» 
was fpoken by him in justification of the Marquis, the Bishop proceeds thus (a): 
" But while it was very doubtful how it would have gone, Monk, by an inex- 
" cusable baseness, had searched among his Letters, and found some that were 
" writ by Argyle to himself, that were hearty and zealous on their side. These 
M he sent down to Scotland, and after they were read in Parliament, it could 
** not be pretended that his compliance was feigned or extorted from him. Every 

(a) History of his own Times, vol.i. p. 125. 



APPENDIX, N° 3. [xxxij 

n body blamed Monk for sending these down, since it was betraying the confi- 
« dence that they then lived in. They were sent by an express, and came to the 
'« Earl of Middleton after the Parliament was engaged in the debate. So he 
" ordered the letters to be read. This was. much Warned, as contrary to the 
** laws of justice, since probation was closed on both sides. But the reading 
«' of them silenced all farther debate. All his friends went out, and he was 
« condemned as guilty of treason. The Marquis of Montrose only refused 
•* to vote. He owned he had too much resentment to judge in that matter. 
« It was designed he should be hanged as the Marquis of Montrose had been ; 
t( but it was carried, that he should be beheaded, and'that his head should be 
«' set up where Lord Montrose's had been set." It is evident from hence, that 
if our Author's account of the matter be right, the Marquis of Argyle had no* 
thing to complain of, for these letters sent down by Monk fixed the fa£t so fully 
upon him, that even his friends gave up his defence and withdrew. But the 
Marquis when he received sentence, as well as in the whole course of his de- 
fence, insisted that he had complied no farther than other people had done who 
were then his judges ; and the same thing he says in his speech ; and hence it is 
that I am apt to believe that-, there is some mistake or misapprehension in this 
matter; and that though Monk might give his assistance to ruin a man whose 
abilities he might fear, and whose influence he very well knew, {b) yet he neither 
sent down any such letters, nor had any such to send ; and in support of this 
opinion, I shall offer my reasons, and draw them into the narrowest compass 
possible. 1. This matter was very narrowly looked into at the time it happened ; 
has been very carefully reviewed since ; and accounts of it have been given by 
persons of opposite sentiments ;, yet none of these mention Monk's letters. The 
great Ministers of those times, and those who were deepest in the taking the 
Marquis's life, removed, as far as they were able, all the minutes relating to his 
process, which they would not have done, had he been convicted on the testi- 

(£) Wodrow's History of the Church of Scotland, vol. i. p. 42. 



[xxxii] APPENDIX, N° 3. 

mony of these letters, because, the recording them had justified their proceed- 
ings (c). All things tending to justify the bringing the Marquis to a trial, con- 
demning and putting him to death, were carefully published in England, as 
Bishop Kennet shews very largely ; but nothing is said of these letters (d). Sir 
George Mackenzie wrote a vindication of the Government of King Charles the 
Second in Scotland, in which he passes over entirely this whole transaction, 
which surely he would not have done, if it could have been so easily vindicated 
as by transcribing these letters (e). Mr. Wodrow collected every thing he 
could meet with relating to this process, and has preserved the names of 
the witnesses that proved the Marquis's compliance, but he says nothing 
of Monk's letters, neither is there a syllable of them in the State Trials, except 
the transcribing this passage from Bishop Burnet. 2. It seems to be inconsistent 
with another part of the Bishop's own account ; for he says, the King instructed 
his Commissioner not to proceed to sentence, or at least to execution, till he 
had reviewed the proceedings (f) ; for which there had been no occasion if 
the King had known any thi.ig of these letters, since what satisfied the Marquis's 
friends as to his guilt would undoubtedly have sati-fkd His Majesty also upon 
that subject. 3- There are some circumstances in the account this Prelate gives 
of the Marquis, which may easily induce us to believe, that he might be misled 
in regard to his story. As for instance, he mentions his bJng upon ill terms 
with his son Lord Lome, and having actually had thoughts of 6 
him (g). Under the usurpation it was necessary for the Marquis to disclaim the 
conduct of Lord Lome for his own safety and preservation ; but this never 
deceived the people in power (Z>), and therefore it is strange that it should im- 
pose upon the Bishop. In the Marquis's advice to his son and to the rest of his 

(c) Wodrow's History of the Church of Scotland, vol. i. p. 57. 

(J) Register and Chronicle, Ecclesiastical and Civil, p. 334. 405. 40;. 4:8. 451. 433. 

(<r) Wodrow's History of the Church of Scotland, p. 5;. 

(/) History of his own Times, vol.i. p. 1 J3. 

(g) Ibid. p. 106. 

(b) Thurloe's Letters, vol.i. p. 514. 

It 



APPENDIX, N° 3. [xxxiii] 

children, there is nothing that looks that way ; and in the next article we shall 
see, that Lord Lome's zeal for his father had like to have cost him his own life, 
as the Marquis's coming to London on his son's letter actually cost him his. 
The Bishop speaks of an attempt made by the Marquis to make his escape out of 
the Castle ; but he says, that fearing it might hasten his execution, his heart 
failed him (i) . It is not easy to conceive how this can be reconciled to the story 
of Monk's letters. Before they came, the Bishop tells us the affair was very 
doubtful, and in such a situation it is not probable the Marquis would attempt 
an escape. After sentence was passed, he never was in the Castle, and conse- 
quently could have no opportunity of escaping from thence. It is however true 
that he really intended an escape from the Castle, and was once in compleat dis- 
guise for that purpose, but laid aside his disguise because he would not desert 
the sentiments which he had espoused (k). He chose rather to die like an 
honest man than to draw an imputation of guilt upon his character by flight ; 
but his conduct would have been absurd if his letters to Monk had proved him 
already guilty, or even if he knew such letters had been in Monk's power. The 
Bishop says expressly that the Marquis wrote his letter to the King the day be- 
fore his execution (/) ; the letter itself shews, that the Marquis wrote it that 
very day (m). It seems therefore possible, that the Bishop having this account 
from some good hand, in his opinion, might set it down without considering it 
very carefully. 4. We have many things said by Clarendon and Echard of the 
Marquis's Correspondence with Cromwell and Sir Henry Vane, though neither 
have vouchsafed us any proofs. On the other hand, Whitelocke and other writers 
xmthat side give him quite another character, and represent him always as a per- 
son always suspected and dreaded. We have of late years had great discoveries 
made of the correspondence under Cromwell's Government ; all which clearly- 

(i) History of his own Times, vol. i. p. 124. 

(k) Wodrow's History of the Church of Scotland, p. 53. 

(/) History of his own Times, vol. i. p. 125. 

{in) See the letter in the next note. 

M 



[xxxivj APPENDIX, N« 3. 

proves that the Marquis of Argyle was never considered in any other light than 
that of a concealed Royalist, as his son, the Lord Lome, was a declared one («). 
There is a Letter of his to King Charles the Second, which I have seen, and is 
now in print, that proves he had a great correspondence with King Charles the 
First ; and in which he tells the King that nobody would restore him but the 
Prefbyterians, which the King afterwards found to be true (0). 5. Lastly, it is 
so far from being a fact, that he had any close connection with Monk in the 
management of affairs, while he governed Scotland, that I am able to prove he 
was his mortal enemy, and represented him in the blackest colours to both the 
Protectors. He accused him to Oliver as not deserving the money that was paid 
him (/>) as a debt for maintaining the Scots troops in Ireland upon the credit of 
the public faith, and the following letter will fully shew that he did not consider 
his going up to Richard's Parliament as a compliance with that Government, 
but as an endeavour to overturn it. This letter is directed to Thurloe, and runs 
thus (7) : 



« My Lord, 
M My Lord Keeper and myself have done our best to get those men chosen 
<« you have wrote for ; but my Lord of Argyle and some others whom my Lord 
" Keeper will acquaint you with, have endeavoured all they can to get all Scotch- 
" men chosen. But I doubt not, but there will be three chosen of those five you 
«' sent the names of; and I have taken care that as many as come out of this 
*« country shall be there with the first ; and if the writs come in time, which I 
" hope they will, they shall be all sent to Dr. Clarges. The Marquis of Argyle 



(n s Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 2S. 

(c) Peck's Desiderata Cuiiosa, vol. ii. b. 2. p. 16, 

(/>) Thurloe's State Papers, vol. vi. p. 341. 

(y) Ibid, vol vii. p. 5S4. 



APPENDIX, N° 3. fjftxv] 

H himself endeavours to be chosen, notwithstanding he is Sheriff of Argyleshire j 
« neither do I guess he will do his Highness's interest any good; but when 
« my Lord Keeper comes up, he shall acquaint you with the business. Which 
" is all at present from 

" Your, Lordship's 

« Dalkeith, " Verv humble s «vant, 

« December 30, 1658." « GEORGE MONCK." 



REFERRED TO IN THE OBSERVATIONS, P. 23. 



From Dr, Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, ill Edition, Vol. 2. p. 355. 

BUT the Bishop is not content with barely characterizing this noble person, 
he charges him with three glaring crimes ; which as they relate to the most 
eminent actions of his life, we shall briefly consider. The first is the murder 
of the Marquis of Argyle. This nobleman was questioned before the Parliament 
of Scotland, for concurring with the late rebellious powers. He pleaded, that 
he complied with them only, and made a very strong defence (a) : but the 
Bishop says that Monk having several Letters of his, which fully shewed that 
his inclinations as well as his actions were with the prevailing party, he sent 
these down, which were read in Parliament, and by this breach of private 

(a) The proceedings against bim may be found in the 2d volume of State Trials. 
[ea] 



fxxxvij APPENDIX, -N° 3. 

friendship he brought the Marquis to the block (b). Now to this I say, that 
the fact cannot be true for many reasons : I shall mention only a few. First, 
the Marquis in his defence complains, that he was surprized into being present 
at Oliver's proclamation as Protector, by General Monk's sending for him to 
the council, without letting him know what was to be done. "Would he have 
complained of this, and have passed by the letters ; or would not this com- 
plaint have been ridiculous if there had been any such letters (c) ? Second, — 
The Marquis died with an appeal to God for ihz sincerity of his defence, and 
wrote a letter to the King, affirming the same thing, a copy of which I have 
seen (d). Would so wise a man, as the Marquis certainly was, have done this^ 
if, as Burnet says, his own letters had made the thing so plain, that his friends 
had nothing to say? Third. — This does not at all agree with Monk's character. 
He was an advocate for mercy to the regicides in the House of Lords ; he 
was silent on the Bench at the Old Bailey, when commissioned to try them ; 
and, which is much more to the purpose, he saved Sir Arthur Haslerig's life 
and estate, (the bitterest personal enemy he had in the world) by owning a 
promise to him, which some say he never made. This seems to shew him of 
no betraying spirit (*>). Fourth. — There was no occasion for Argyle to write 
any such letters, for Monk never was in England after Oliver became Protector ; 
and it is hard to understand, why the Marquis should apply to him in Scotland, 
when he could so easily have audience of Cromwell in London, where he often 
was (/"). Fifth. — But the thing is now out of doubt ; for by the publication 

(£) Burnet's History of his own Times, vol. i. book 2. 

(c ) State Trials, vol. ii. 

(d) By the favor of his nephew the Honourable Mr. Archibald Campbell. In this 
letter the Marquis insists on his loyalty in very high terms, and indeed there is all the 
reason in the world to believe he never meant any thing more in his proceedings in Scot- 
land, than to restrain the power of the crown within due bounds. 

(<r) Skinner's Life of Monk, p. 3 19, 320. (/) Ibid, chap. 7. 



APPENDIX, N°3. [xxxvii] 

of Thurloe's Papers it appears, that Monk never considered the Marquis in this 
light, but always represented him as a secret friend to the King, and an active 
enemy to the Protector's Government (g). 



(g) See the articles of Argyle and Monk in the 3d, 4th, and 5th volumes of Thurloe's 
State Papers ; and thence it will plainly appear, that there was no harmony between them, 
and consequently no ground to suppose that the Marqui6 would lay himself open to him 
by his letters. 



[xxxviii] APPENDIX, N° 4. 



Appendix, N° 4. 

REFERRED TO IN THE OHSERVATIONS, P. 82. 



Respecting the Persecution of the Quakers in New England. 

17th May 1 66 1. A Committee was appointed by his Majesty in council, con- 
sisting of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer, Lord 
Privy Seal, Duke of Albemarle, Duke of Ormond, Lord 
Chamberlain, Earl of Anglesey, Lord Viscount Say and 
Seal, Lord Holies, Lord Cornwallis, Sir Edward Nicholas, 
and Sir William Morice, Kn", Secretaries of State, to 
consider of such letters, proclamations, or orders, as they 
might judge fit to offer to his Majesty to sign or publish, 
in reference to the settlement of the government of New 
England. 

31ft May 1661. His Majesty in council was pleased to refer to the above 
committee for their consideration and report, a represen- 
tation from sundry persons (called Quakers) of the suffer- 
ings of their friends in New England ; and their request 
and desire, together with a report on the said representation 
from the council for foreign plantations. 



APPENDIX, N"4. [xxxix] 

Letter to the Massachusets in favour of Quakers. 

CHARLES R. 

TRUSTY and welbeloved we greet you well j having been informed that 

several of our subjects among you called Quakers have been and are imprisoned 

by you, whereof some have been executed, and others (as hath been represented 

unto us) are in danger to undergo the like We have thought fit to signify our 

pleasure in that behalf for the future and do hereby require, That if there be 

any of those people called Quakers amongft you now already condemned to 

suffer death or other corporal punishment, or that are imprisoned and obnoxious 

to the like condemnation you forbear to proceed any further therein, but that 

you forthwith send the said persons (whether condemned or imprisoned) over 

into this our kingdom of England together with their respective crimes or 

offences laid to their charge to the end such course may be taken with them 

here as shall be agreeable to our laws and their demerits, and for so doing these 

our letters shall be your sufficient warrant and discharge ; Given at our Court 

at Whitehall the ninth day of September 1661 in the thirteenth year of our 

Reign; 

By his Majesty's command 

WILL. MORICE. 

This is a true copy of his Majesty's 

letter dated as aforesaid; Witness my 

hand. John Cooke, Clerk to Mr. Secretary Morice. 

The Superscription. 
TO our trusty and welbeloved John Indecott Esq re and to all and every 
other the Governor or Governors of our Plantation of New England and of all 
the Colonies thereunto belonging that now are or hereafter shall be, and to all 
and every the Ministers and Officers of our said Plantation and Colonies what- 
soever within the Continent of New England. 

(Copied from the New England Papers. Vol. I. No. 162.) 
3t 



WJ 



APPENDIX, N° 5 . 



Appendix, N° 5, 



REFERRED TO IN THE OBSERVATIONS, P. l8o. 



Proceedings respecting the Application of Torture in Scotland. 



SEDERUNT. 



His Majesty's High Corm. E. Foifar 



E. Drumlanrig 
E. Argyle 
E. Crawfurd P. 
E. Southerland 
E. Egl intone 
E. Mortone 
E. Cassils 
E. Lothian 



E. Leven 
E. Kintoir 
L°- Raith 
L°- Cardross 
L°- Ruthven 
M r . of Burligh 
L d Justice Clerk 



4th August 169c. 

L°- Aberuchell 
The Laird of Grant 
The Laird of Blackbarony. 
The Laird of Leyes 
Sir George Monro 
The Laird of Brodie 
Major Gen 1 . M c Kay 



FORASMUCH as ther has been a treasonable and hellish plot contrived and 
carried on against ther Maties persons their government and their good subjects 
within this and the neighbouring nations ; and that ther is evident presumptions 
and documents that Henry Navill Pain prisoner within their Cattle of Edinburgh 
Kendall alias Morgan, Colin, John 8c Patrick Bells have been 
accessory to and in the knowledge of such an unnatural and damnable conspi- 
racy : Therefore, and ifir detecting and discovering thereof, Ther Maties High 



APPENDIX, N° 5. 



[xli] 



Commissioner and the Lords of Privy Councill do ordaine the Tortur to be put 
to the saids Henry Navill Pain Kendall alias Morgan, Colin, John, 

& Patrick Bells, in their own presence, or a Committee to be appointed for 
that effect (Sic. Sub r ) Melvill, Crawfurd P. Argyle, Southerland, Eglingtoune, 
Leven, Forfar, Cardross, Rothven, Balfour, G. Campbell, C. Campbell, 
A r Murray, J. Brodie, H. Mackay, G°. Monro. 



At Edinburgh the 10th day of December 1690 yeers. 



SEDERUNT. 
E. Crawfurd P. 
E. Southerland 
E. Mortoune 
E. Cassils 
E. Forfar 



Vise* Stair 
L°- Raith 
L°- Cardross 
L°- Carmichael 
L ' Ravilrig. 



L ' Aberurquhall 
L 0> Fountanhall 
L°« Blackbarrony 
Sir John Hall 



The following letter direct from his Majesrie to the "Privy Councill was read, 
ordered to be recorded whereof the tenor follows 
Supra Scribitur. 

WILLIAM R. 
Right trusty and intirely beloved Cousine and Councillor, Right trusty and 
right weel beloved Cousins and Councillors, Right trusty and weel beloved 
Cousines and Councillors, Right trusty and weell beloved Councillors, and trusty 
and weell beloved Councillors, wee greet you weell. Whereas we have full as- 
surance upon undeniable evidence of a horrid plott and conspiracy against our 
Government, and the whole settlement of that our ancient Kingdom, for intro- 
ducing the authoritie of the late King James and popery in these Kingdoms, 
and setting up an intire new forme of Government, whereof there has been se- 
veral contrivers and managers, and Navill Pain, now prisoner in our Castle of. 
Edinburgh, hath lykways been an Instrument in that Conspiracie, who having 
neither relation nor business in Scotland, went thither on purpose to maintain a 

tn 



[xlii] APPENDIX, N° c. 

correspondence, and to negotiat ?.nd promott the plott : And it being necessary* 
for the fecurity of our Government, and the peace and satisfaction of our 
good subjects, that these foul designs be discovered : Therefore we doe require 
you to make all legal inquirie into this matter •, and we have transmitted several 
Papers and Documents for your information, some whereof have been read 
amongst you ; and particularly wee doe require you to examine Navill Penn 
strictly; and in case he prove obstinate or disengenious that you proceed again?' 
him to torture, with all the ligour that the law allows in such caises; and not 
doubting your ready and vigorous applications for the furder discovery of what 
so much concerns the public safety, we bid you heartily fareweell. Given at our 
Court at Kensingtoune the Eighteenth day of November * Javaj and ninety 
years, and of our reign the Second year. By His Majesty's Command (Sic 
Sub%) MELV1LL. 

The Lords of his Majesty's Privie Council doe heerby give order and warrant! 
to Lieut. Co" James Murray, Lieu' Governour of the Castle of Ed r , and in his 
absence the nixt commanding officer present, to bring along Navill Pain prisoner 
in the said Castle In presence of the Provost of Edinburgh ane of the said 
Lords their own number ; and that under ane sufficient guard and List the said 
Navill Pain in presence of the saids Lords, without admitting any person what- 
soever to speak with him on the way as he comes from the said Castle to the 
said Lords, or in the said Castle before he come forth thereof. 

The above prisoner being brought to the Barr, and being several times 
removed and called in again, and being asked several questions anent a Con- 
spiracie against the Government, and for restoring the late King James, whereof 
the Council had strong and evident presumptions of his knowledge ; He denied 
all knowledge of or accessione to the foresaid Conspiracie ; and the Councill 
having by the Earle of Crafurd, their President for the tyme, intimate to the 
prisoner that the Councill has certain and sufficient evidences of his knowledge 

* iCgo. 



APPENDIX, N°5. 



[xliii] 



of and concerne in the plott and conspiracie, and therfor required him to be 
ingenious and frank in his N confessione, oyrwayes they would (in respect of the 
great and clear evidences against him) put him to the torture ; and the prisoner 
having still refused to make any acknowledgment, and in a boasting mancr bid 
them doe with his body what they pleased ; The Councill resolved to proceed to 
torture; but first called for and read at the Board (the prisoner being'removed) 
ane former warrand of Councill for putting this prisoner and others to torture, 
in respect of the evident presumptions against them, signed by their Majeflies 
Commissioner and fifteen Lords of Councill of the 4th of August last. 

It being moved att the barr, "Whether Navill Pain the prisoner in case of his 
<lisingenuity or refusall to answer notwithstanding of the torture he is to be put 
to this night, may be put to new torture the morrow ; the same went to the 
vote, and carried in the affirmative, that he might be putt to the torture again 
upon interrogators not coincident with these, which he shall be this night in- 
terrogate upon. 

The prisoner, being again brought in, was put to the torture of the thumbie- 
kins ; and being examined upon several interrogators answered to the whole 
negative. 



D. Hamiltoune P. 
E. Crafurd 

E. Enrol 

E. Mortoun 



[6 Dec T 1690. 



E. Forfar 
Vis. Stair 
L°- Raith 
L 0< Cardross 



L°* Ravilrig 
L°* Aberurquhall 
L°* Fountainhall 
L ' Blackbarrony 



Anent the petition given in to the Lords of their Majesties Privy Council be 
Francis Pain, nevoy to Henry Ncvill Pain, Shewing that the petitioner being in- 
formed that his said uncle was committed closs prisoner after torture ; and that 

[f 2 ] 



[xliv] 



APPENDIX, N° 5. 



his own Physitians and Chirurgions have not liberty to attend him, and seeing 
these circumstances may endanger his life j and therefore humbly craving their 
L6 to allow him the benifite of open prisone, and to allow his ordinary Phisitians 
and Chirurgions to attend him, since they only could know his constitutione, 
as the said Petition bears : The Lords of their Majesties Privy Councill having 
considered the above petitione, they grant the desyre thereof, and allows the 
above Henry Nevill Pain the benefit of open prisone, and allows his ordinary 
Physitians and Chirurgeons to attend him ; The Governour, Lieu' Governour, or 
other inferior Officers of the said Castle being always answerable for his safe 
custody. 



Sed' 



D. Hafniltoune P. 

E. Crafurd 
E. Errol 
E. Cassils 
E. Forfar 



30 Dec r 1690. 

Vis. Stair 
L°- Raith 
L°- Cardross 
L°- Carmichaell 
L°- Ravih-ig 



L 8 - Aberurqub.aH 
L°* Fountainhall 
L°- Blackbarrony 
L°- Stevensone 



The following letter direct from his Majestie to the Councell being this day 
read, was ordered to be recorded whereof the tenor follows : 



Subscribitur 

WILLIAM R. 

Right trusty and entirely beloved Cousine and Councillor, Right trusty and 
right weel beloved Cousins and Councillors, Right trusty and weel beloved 
Cousins and Councillors, Right trusty and weel beloved Councillors, and trusty 
and weel beloved Councillors Wee greet you weel. Whereas we understand 
that Navill Paine hath been most obstinate and disingenious, when examined by 
you concerning the late plott and conspiracy against us and our Government, 
notwithstanding of our inclinations of favor toward him upon a true discovery ; 



APPENDIX, N° $. [xlv] 

It is therefor our will and pleasure, and wee doe heerby authorize and require 
you to cause secure him in closs prisone, and that no person be suffered to meet 
speek or correspond with him any manner of way, except his keeper and also 
Phisitians and Chirurgions when allowed by you j until our furder order : So 
not doubting your ready compliance with these our Commands wee bid you 
heartily fareweel Given at our Court at Kensingtoune, the 33 d day of December 
Jajvaj and nyntie and of our reign the Second year By His Majesties Command 
(Sic Sub) MELVILL 

The Lords of their Majestys Privy Council in obedience to 8c prosecution of 
his Majesty's Commands in his letter under his Royall hand direct to them of 
the date at Kensingtoune the 23 d day of December instant, authorising and re- 
quiring them to cause secure Navill Paine in closs prisone, and that no person be 
suffered to meet speek or correspond with him any manner of way except his 
Keeper and also Chirurgions 8c Phisitians when allowed by the said Lords Doe 
hereby recommend to the Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh where the said 
Navill Paine is prisoner ; and in absence of the Governor they give order and 
warrand to the Lieu 1 Governpur of the said Castle, to secure the said Navill 
Paine in closs prison •, and discharges them to suffer any persone to meet, speek 
or correspond with him except his Keeper, and also Physitians and Chirurgions 
when allowed by the said Lords, until his Majesties further pleasure 

(Sic Sub r ) Hamiltoun P. Crafurd, Errol, Stair, Raith, Cardross, Carmichael, 
C. Campbell, Ar. Murray. 



[xlvi] APPENDIX, N° 6. 



Appendix, N° 6. 

REFERRED TO IN OBSERVATIONS, P. 15. 



W 



PAPER respecting the Degree of Reliance which should be placed on 
Bishop Burnett's Statements of Fa£ts and Circumstances. 

E will first refer to his own authority in his own words : 



H A Historian that favours his own side, is to be forgiven, tho' he puts a little 

« too much life in his colours, when he sets out the best sides of his party, and 

" the worst of those from whom he differs ; and if he but slightly touches the 

« failings of his friends, and severely aggravates those of the other side, tho* in 

** this he departs from the Laws of an exa£t Historian, yet this bias is so na- 

M tural, that if it lessens the credit of the writer, yet it does not blacken him." 

" Reflexions on Mr.Varillas's History of the Revolutions that have 

•"* happened in Europe in Matters of Religion, by G. Burnet D.D. 

" 12 — Amst. 1686.— p. 5." 

In the same Preface he says, somewhat inconsistently, " I reckon a lie in his- 
" tory to be as much a greater sin than a lie in common discourse, as the one is 
** like to be more lasting and generally known than the other" — on which Bevill 
Higgons remarks, "How well he has made good this declaration the following 
" remarks will convince the world, by shewing the Reader such an uninterrupted 
M series of untruths as will astonish ; not mistakes proceeding from negligence or 



APPENDIX, N° 6. 



[xlvii] 



** human infirmity, but from a corrupt design to impose on posterity ; not from 
" misinformation or error of judgment, but from a deliberate a£t of the will, 
" what the Logicians call a volition to do mischief, by not only misrepresenting 
" matters of faft, and setting them in a false light, but positive assertions of 
« several things which he must have known in his conscience to be absolutely 
" contrary to truth ; so that if we may judge by the whole tenor of the Book, 
« we may venture to affirm, that nothing can equal his insincerity, but his 
" malice ; and, if possible, exceed both, but his vanity." 

Bevill Higgons's Remarks Historical and Critical on Bishop Burnet's 
History of his own Time, (vol. ii. of his Works) p. 2. in which 
there is a large collection of. the Bishop's inaccuracies. 



In the Bishop's Dedication, of a 
Vindication of the Authority, Consti- 
tution, &c. of the Church and State of 
Scotland, to the Duke of Lauderdale in 
1673 he addresses his Grace as fol- 
lows :* 

" The noble character which you do 
now so worthily bear, together with 
the more lasting and inward characters 



In his History of his own Times, in 
the reign of Charles the Second, he 
gives the following character of the 
Duke in 1660, which he did not how- 
ever publish till after the revolution : 

"The Earl of Lauderdale,afterwards 
made Duke, had been for many years 
a zealous Covenanter : But in the year 



* In Bevill Higgons's Miscellaneous Works are the following Passages — " In this 
'f dedication the flattery is so gross as to disgust the reader : " All which to a man in 
" whom he had discovered so nefarious a design as the enslaving and destru&ion of his 
" country, which is one kind of parricide. Conscious of all this, when he designed to 
" turn informer, he rightly judged, that it would difcredit his evidence, to have all these 
" authentic proofs of his insincerity brought against him ; upon which, he resolved to 
" stifle this dedication if possibly he could ; being justly ashamed that the world should 



[xlviii] APPENDIX, N'6. 

of your princely mind, did set me be- forty- seven he turned to the King's 
yond doubting to whom this address interests ; and had continued a prisoner 



" see what incense he had offered to that very man, whom now he was going to sacrifice. 
" The learned Dr. Hickes who liv'd at this time, and was an eye-witness of these trans- 
" actions, has given many years ago an account of this management, the knowledge of 
** which will instruct; the reader. Not long after printing this book at Glascow, he 
" brought a great part of the impression to London, where he sold it to Mr. Moses Pit ; 
** and not long after he came to him, to desire him with great earnestness to sell the 
,{ copies of it without the dedication ; for by this time the Duke had fallen out with him, 
'* and discarded him for some arts and qualities he bad observed in him, which I need 
" not name. Mr. Pit gave him very good reasons why he ought not to do so ; and par- 
" ticularly told him he could not honestly sell an imperfect for a perfeft copy. Upon 
" which he was angry, and threatcn'd him with the loss of all the favours he intended to 
" do him in his trade. This Mr. Pit can testify if he is living ; if not, it can be testified 
" by an honorable person who heard him solicit Mr. Fit to this base and unworthy practice. 
" But though Mr.Pit would not consent to sell the books without the dedication, yet he 
" was content to let him have them again ; and so they came abroad without it, and so 
*' hard it was, till it was privately reprinted, to get one single copy with it, that I profess 
" I could never get such a one, till a gentleman presented me with one out of his private 
" study. And when he had delated his patron to the House of Commons, Sir A. For- 
" rester, his Grace's secretary, told me, that after the utmost diligence he could get but 
" one single copy with the dedication, tho' he would have purchased more at any rate, 
" to have shewn the gentlemen of the honorable house, what kind of man the evidence 
" was, that would publish such things in commendation of the Duke, after he knew, as 
*• he pretended, that he had a design of bringing an army out of Scotland for the spoiling 
" and subduing of England. * The discover)- of this dedication, and his suppressing it, 
" coming to be known, made the House curious to see it ; and he foreseeing what use 
*' would be made of it against him, was willing to decline this noble undertaking ; but 
*' the House by the Interest of the Duke's friends, who increased on this discovery, 
M made him testify what he since says created horror in him ; and how much reputation 
" he got by it I need not tell the world." 

Higgons's vol. ii. p. 195 to 198. The author has a copy of the Bishop's 
work, with the dedication ; the first edition in 1673. 

*It will be recollected that it was in April 1675 that he gave evidence in the House of 
Commons of the crimes and offences committed by the Duke during his administration 
in Scotland. 

4t 



APPENDIX, N° 6. 



[xlix] 



vas to be made : for to whom is a 
vindication of the authority and laws, 
of this kingdom so due as to your. 
Grace, to whom His Majesty hath by 
a royal delegation, committed the ad- 
ministration of affairs among us ; and 
under whose wise and happy conduct, 
we have enjoyed so long a tract of 
uninterrupted tranquillity ? But it is. 
not only your illustrious quality, that 
entitles you to this dedication. No, 
Great Prince, greater in your mind 
than by your fortune ; there is some- 
what more inward to you than the 
gifts of fortune ; which as it proves 
her not blind in this instance, so com- 
mands all the respect can be paid 
your Grace, by such who are ho- 
noured with so much knowledge of 
you, as hath fallen to the happy share 
of your poorest servant. 

" But, my Lord, since all I can say 
either of the vast endowments of your 
mind, or of the particular engage- 
ments I lie under to honour you, must 
needs fall short of my sense of both ; 
and what is just to be said, is not fit 
for me to express ; the least appear- 
ances of flattery being as unpleasant 



all the while after Worcester fight, 
where he was taken. He was kept for 
some years in theTower of London, in 
Portland Castle, and in other prisons, 
till he was set at liberty by those who. 
called home the King. So he went 
over to Holland. And since he conti- 
nued so long, and contrary to all mens' 
opinions in so high a degree of favour 
and confidence, it may be expected 
that I should be a little copious in 
setting out his character ; for I knew 
him very particularly. He made a 
very ill appearance : he was very big : 
his hair red, hanging odly about him : 
his tongue was too big for his mouth, 
which made him bedew all that he 
talked to ; and his whole manner 
was rough and boisterous, and very 
unfit for a Court. He was very 
learned, not only in Latin, in which 
he was a mafter, but in Greek and 
Hebrew. He had read a great deal 
of divinity, and almost all the histo- 
rians ancient and modern : so that he 
had great materials. He had with 
these an extraordinary memory, and 
a copious but unpolished expression. 
He was a man, as the Duke of Buck- 
ingham called him to me, of a blun- 



fe] 



W 



A P P E N D I X, N° 6. 



to you, as unbecoming one of my 
station : I must quit this theme which 
is- too great for me to manage ; and 
only add, that I know your under- 
standing, in such debates as are here 
managed, to be so profound, and your 
judgment so well balanced, that as you 
deservedly pass for a master in all 
learning ; so, if these sheets be so 
happy as to be well accounted of by 
you, I shall the less value or appre- 
hend the snarling of all censurers. 
I" pretend not by prefixing so great a 
name to these Conferences, to be 
secure from censure by your patro- 
einy, since these enemies of all order 
and authority (with whom I deal) will 
rather be provoked from that, to lash 
me with the more severity. 

■ I shall not to this add my poor 
thoughts of what this time and the 
tempers of those with whom we deal, 
seems to call for, since by so doing, I 
should become more ridiculous than 
Phormio was, when he entertained 
the redoubted Hannibal, with a pe- 
dantic discourse of a General's con- 
duct. It is from your Grace's deep 
judgment and great experience, that 



dering understanding: he was haughty 
beyond expression, abject to those he 
saw he must stoop to, but imperious^ 
to all others. He had a violence of 
passion, that carried him often to fits 
like madness, in which he had no 
temper. If he took a thing wrong, 
it was a vain thing to study to con- 
vince him : That would rather pro- 
voke him to swear, he would never be 
of another mind : He was to be let 
alone ; and perhaps he would have 
forgot what he had said, and come 
about of his own accord. He was the 
coldest friend and violentest enemy 
I ever knew : I felt it too much not 
to know it. He at first seemed to 
despise wealth ; but he delivered him- 
self up afterwards to luxury and sen- 
suality : and by that means he ran 
into a vast expense, and stuck aC 
nothing that was necessary to support 
it. In his long imprisonment he had 
great impressions of religion on his 
mind ; but he wore these out so en- 
tirely, that scarce any trace of them 
was left. His great experience in 
affairs, his ready compliance with 
every thing that he thought would" 
please the King, and his bold offering 



APPENDIX, N° 6. 



[H3 



we all expect and long for a happy- 
settlement; wherein, that success and 
blessings may attend your endeavours, 
lhall be prayed for more earnestly by 
none alive, than by, 

Your Grace's most humble 

molt faithful and most 
obliged Servant, 
G. BURNET. 



at the most desperate counsels, gained 
him such an interest in the King, that 
no attempt against him nor complaint 
of him could ever shake it, till a decay 
of strength and understanding forced 
him to let go his hold. He was in 
his principles much against popery 
and arbitrary government ; and yet by 
a fatal train of passions and interefts 
he made way for the former, and had 
almost established the latter. And, 
whereas some by a smooth deportment 
made the first beginnings of tyranny 
less discernible and unacceptable, he 
by the fury of his behaviour, height* 
ened the severityof his ministry, which 
was liker the cruelty of an inquisition 
than the legality of justice. With all 
this he was a presbyterian, and re- 
tained his aversion to King Charles the 
First and his party to his death." 



Mr. Higgons's Work, which is here quoted, is in two Volumes oaavo, which 
are filled with Comments on the Mis-statements, Inaccuracies, or Errors in the 
Bishop's History, to which the Reader is referred, as it would be tedious to repeat 
the detections here. 



fe»] 



[Iii] 



APPENDIX, N° 6. 



Mis-statements in the Bishop's History contradicted by Records. 



Burnet in his History in 1685 says, 
the Revenue was granted to James 
for life, and every thing else that was 
asked with such profusion, that the 
House was more forward to give than 
the King was to ask : — To which the 
King thought fit to put a stop, by a 
message, intimating that he desired 
no more money that Session. 

Octavo Edition, London 1766, 
p. 331. 



Here is a positive mis-statement of 
a fact, which could by no possibility 
have arisen from a mistake, as the Doc- 
tor was on the spot at the time. The 
willingness of the two Houses to grant 
money to his Majesty was most un- 
questionable ; but it is equally certain 
that his Majesty sent no message, nor 
took any other measure, to check or to 
stop the grants : On the contrary, he 
was urgent with the Houses for sup- 
plies, not finding their zeal, remark- 
able as it was, active enough. — In his 
speech on opening the Parliament 22d 
May 1685, on asking for his brother's 
revenue for life (which he had pre- 
viously helped himself to as has been 
shewn) the arguments which he said he 
might use to enforce the demand were 
the benefit of trade, the support of the 
Navy, the necessity of the Crown, and 
the well being of the Government it- 
self (b) . Thatwas givenbyacclamation, 
and the Bill received his Majesty's 
assent on the 30th ef the same month; 



(t) Journals of the H. C vol. ix. p. 7H« 



APPENDIX, N°6\ [liii] 

on which day he made another speech, 
in which he calls upon the House for 
a further supply for the Navy, Ord- 
nance, and anticipations of the Re- 
venue, (notwithstanding the regular 
remittances from France in the end of 
Charles' Reign) and for the debts of 
the late King to his servants and fa- 
mily (notwithstanding his Majesty 
found 90,000 guineas in his brother's 
strong box) : Which further supply 
the Commons unanimously voted the 
same day; and was carried into effe£t 
by two a£ts which received the royal 
assent the 16th June (c). And on the 
1 8th his Majesty sent a message to the 
Commons for a still further supply, by 
a vote of credit, on the D. of Mon- 
mouth landing in the West; in conse- 
quence of which the House voted 
400,0001. immediately after the mes- 
sage was read (d) and also a tax to 
meet the charge, which received the 
Royal assent the27thof the month, on 
newresolutions adopted onthe 20th(*). 
And on the 2d of July there was an 
adjournmentjcontinued till November, , 

(c) Lords Journals, vol. xiv. p. 44. 

(</) Commons Journals, vol.ix. p. 740. 

(<?) Do. p. 742. and Lords Journals, vol. xiv. p. 65, 



PUr] 



APPENDIX, N« 6. 



without any other message from the 
King. In his Majesty's speech on 
meeting the two Houses the 9th of 
November, he however again presses 
earnestly on their consideration the 
granting him fresh supplies; but their 
zeal for granting having then been 
checked by the Test having been dis- 
pensed with, as stated in the Observa- 
tions ; and the House having expres- 
sed their sense of that measure in an 
address, the King prorogued the Par- 
liament on the 20th, and it never met 
again. 



In the same period, the Bishop 
states, " The alarm of the Duke of 
Monmouth's landing was brought to 
London : Where, upon the general 
report and belief of the thing an Act 
of Attainder passed both Houses in 
one day : Some small opposition being 
made by the Earl of Anglesey, because 
the evidence did not seem clear 
enough for so severe a sentence, 
which was grounded on the notoriety 
of the thing. 



It is so far from being true that the 
legislature adopted the measure against 
the Duke of Monmouth on a general 
report, and that it was grounded on 
the notoriety of the thing, that theKing 
on the 13th of June communicated to 
the two Houses a letter from Alford 
the Mayor of Lyme, giving a particular 
account of the Duke's landing there 
and taking possession of the Town. — 
The bill for attainting the Duke was 
brought in, and passed both Houses 



APPENDIX, N* 6. 



[lv] 



In giving an account of what 
passed in the meeting of the Conven- 
tion, after the abdication of King 
James, respecting the vacancy of the 
Throne, and its being filled by the 
Prince and Princess of Orange, the 
Bishop says, having had a great share 
myself in the private managing of 
those debates, particularly with many 
of the Clergy, and with the men of 
the most scrupulous and tender con- 
sciences, I have given a very full ac- 
count of all the reasonings on both 
sides, as that by which the reader 
may form and guide his own judge- 
ment of the whole affair. Many 
protests passed in the House of 
Lords in the progress of the debate. 
The party for a Regency was for some 
time the most prevailing; and then 
the protests were made by the Lords 
that were for the new settlement. 
The House was very full ; about 120 
were present; and things were so 



on the 15th; It received the Royal 
assent the 16th. ■ 

Lords Journals, vol. xiv, p. 39. 42. 
44. CommonsJournals, vol. ix* 
P-735- 737- 



The three days on which the im-» 
portant discussions took place in the 
House of Lords were the 3 1st January, 
the 4th and the 6th cf February 
1688-9, and the number of Lords pre- 
sent were 100, in, and 112, there 
were only three protests in the whole;' 
and there certainly was not one against 
the final vote, that the Prince and 
Princess of Orange shall be declared 
King and Queen ^ The two first 
protests against not agreeing with the 
Commons in their votes were of 
course made by the Whig Lords, 
and the one against agreeing with the 
Vote of the Commons, for the abdi- 
cation and consequent vacancy of the 
Throne, was by the Tories, among 
whom (38 in the whole) were 12 Bi- 
shops out of 17 present. The greatest; 
number of the Whigs who protested' 
were $61. 

Lords Journals, vol. xiv. p. i-jjj> 
116. and- 1 19, 



[lvi] APPENDIX, N° 6. 

near an equality that it was at laft car- 
ried by a very small majority, of two or 
three, to agree with the Commons in 
voting the Abdication, and the vacancy 
of the Throne. Against which a great 
protest was made ; as also against the 
final vote, by which the Prince and 
Princess of Orange were desired to 
accept of the Crown, and declared to 
be King and Queen ; which went very 
hardly. 



Among a great number of MS. Notes of the fecond Earl of Dartmouth, in the 
margin of the Bishop's History (folio edition) the following are selefted as ap- 
plying most immediately to the reliance that may be placed on his fafts. 

Pace ? 16th line He was extremely partial, and readily took every thing for granted that he heard 

from top ; speaking t0 t ^ e prejudice of those he did not like ; which made him pafs for a man of less 
of his impartiality. 

truth than he really was. I do not think he designedly published any thing he 

believed to be false. 

Page 4, ist line ; M r - Secretary Johnston, who was his intimate friend and near relation, told 

where he speaks of that after a debate in the Kouse of Lord he usually went home and al _ 

re-touching and po- ' 

lishing his work. tered every body's character as they had pleafed or displeased him that day. 

Page "o, 16th line Which might have been one inducement for the Bishop to give so malicious 

frombottom; speak- an account f tne Marquis of Montrose's transactions, he having been a domestic 

nig of the Marquis ' & 

of Montrose. servant in the Hamilton Family : iho' the last Duke Hamilton used to tell very 

* strange stories of Falher Burnett's (which he always called him) behaviour whilst 

he was in their hcusc ; not only to me, but in all public companies ; but I never 

heard the Bishop durst contradict them. 

* The word used by the Earl conveys more than the one here substituted for it. 



APPENDIX, N° % 



fMiJ 



from bottom ; men- 
tioning the origin of 
the term « Whigs." 



Which unhappy distinctions no man living was more ready to foment than Page 4s,%ioth line 
the good Bishop himself; and the first enquiry he made into any body's character 
was, whether he were a Whig or a Tory ; if the latter, he made it his business 
to rake all the spiteful stories he could collect together in order to lessen their 
esteem in the world, which he was very free to publish without any regard to 
decency or modesty. 

Mr. Francis Gwin told me, that as soon as this Book was published, he asked 
the Duchess of Monmouth if she remembered any thing of this story; she 
answered, it was impossible she *hould, for there was not one word of it true. 



Page |49, 12th line 
from top ; charging 
Charles the 2d with 
treachery respecting 
her apartments 
being searched for her husband; 



I wrote in the first Volume of this Book that I did not believe the Bishop Vol. 2 at the end 
designedly published any thing he believed to be falfe ; therefore think myself scr jbers. 
obliged to write in this, that I am fully satisfied that he published many things 
that he knew to be fo. 

Certainly the Bishop was thinking of some of his own performances, when 
he thought there was a thread of falsehood that ran through the work. The 
pamphlet he mentions was a bare recital of matter of fa£t, known to be true, or 
easily to be proved so, and was yet never answered with truth, or ever can. 
The Bishop had good reason to dislike it, because it contained a full answer to 
most of his malicious insinuations and wilful misrepresentations. 

Thus piously ends the most partial, malicious heap of scandal and misrepre- 
sentation that was ever collected, for the laudable defign of giving a false impres- 
sion of persons and things to ail future ages. 

This last remark is written opposite to the following concluding paragraph 
in the Bishop's History : " I pray God it may be read with the same candour 
« and sincerity, with which I have written it ; and with such a degree of attention 
« as may help those who read it to form just reflections, and sound principles of 
« religion and virtue, of duty to our princes, and love to our country, with a 
« sincere and incorruptible zeal to preserve our religion, and to maintain our 
« liberty and property." 

01 



Page 581, 19th line 
from top ; alluding 
to a pamphlet en- 
titled, " The Con- 
duct of the Allies, 
" and of the late 
" Ministry.'* 



Page 632, last line. 



pvi»3 APPENDIX, N« 6\ 

From Lord Lansdcwne's Works, folio 173Z. 
« The learned Divine could not but know that to affirm a positive faleshood 
m excuse of the deareft friend at the expence of an innocent man's character, is 
doctrine no where allowed where Christianity or common morality is prac- 
tised" — p. 470. 

The Bishop's hearsays are in most cases very doubtful r his history is indeed 
little else but such a one told such a one, and such a one told me : This sort of 
testimony is allowed in no case ; nor can the least certainty be built upon stories 
handed about from one to another, which must necessarily alter in the several 
repetitions by different persons. I shall then conclude without observation, only 
upon the most important hearsay in his whole work, upon the credit of which 
the rest may depend. 

His Lordship had it from Mr. Henley, who had it from the Duchess of 
Portsmouth, that King Charles the Second was poisoned. It was my fortune to- 
be residing in Paris when this history was published : such a particular was too 
remarkable not to raise my curiosity: the Duchess was then at Paris: I em- 
ployed a person who had the honour to be intimate with her Grace to enquire 
from her own mouth into the truth of this passage : her reply was this : N That 
" she recollected no acquaintance with Mr. Henley, but she remembered well 
« Doctor Burnet and his character : That the King and the Duke and the whole 
" Court looked upon him as the greatest lyar upon the face of the earth ; and 
u there was no believing one word that he said." I only repeat the answer I 
received :. far be it from me to make any such reflection. — p. 496. 



APPENDIX, N'f. [Hxl 

Appendix, N° 7* 

REFERRED TO IN THE OBSERVATIONS, P. 1 9 1. 



ENROLMENT in Chancery of King Charles the Second's Dechraticm 
that he was not married to the Mother of the Duke of Monmouth. 

* Secunda Pars Claus de Anno Regni Regis Caroli Secundi Tricesimo secundo. 

Regis Declaracoes. (30.) MEMORANDUM that Tuesday the fifteenth 
day of June in the two and thirtieth yeare of the reigne of our Soveraigne 
Lord Charles the Second &c. came into the High Court of Chancery 
the King's Attorney Generall ; and according to an order made by the 
King in Councell the second of the same moneth of June in the said two 
& thirtieth yeare of His Majesties reigne, moved that the two severall 
declarations of His Majestie hereafter menconed, both written by His 
Majestie with his owne hand be inrolled amongst the records of this 
Court, for the safe custody of them ; and said that divers noble persons 
were by the King's comand present to witnesse them. 

Whereupon the Court directed that the originall declaracons themselves 
should be produced and read, and the witnesses to prove them sworne. 

The former of which declarations was thereupon produced and read in the 
words and figures following ; 

There being a false and malitious report industriously spread abroad by some 
who are neither friends to me or the Duke of Monmouth as if I should have 

* From the Original Record, in the Chapel of the Rolls. 



px] A P P E N D I X, K« 7. 

bccne either contracted or married to his mother ; and though I am most confi- 
dent that this idle story cannot have any effect in this age, yet I thought it my 
duty in relacon to the true succession of this crowne and that future ages may 
not have any prence to give disturbance upon that score, or any other of this 
nature, to declare as I doe here declare in the pesence of Almighty God that I 
never was married nor gave any contract to any woman whatsoever but to my 
wife Queene Catharine to whome I am now married. In witnesse whereof I 
sett my hand at Whitehall the sixth of January 167 1. CHARLES R. 

And this declaracon I make in the psence of 

W. Cant H. Finch Cane' 

H.Coventry J. Williamson. 

And then the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, Henry 
Coventry Esq r and Sir Joseph Williamson, being the persons that subscribed the 
said declaracon did depose- and sweare as followeth, that is to say : 

The said Archbishop did depose that upon the sixteenth of the same January 
the King called him into a roome within his bedchamber and read the declaracon 
above recited to him, and then gave it into his owne hand and bade him read it 
himselfe; which he did, and after that his Majestic was pleased to declare that it 
was all of his owne hand writing and of his owne inditing, and did very solemnly 
with his hands and eyes lifted up afErme in the psence of God that all the con- 
tents of that paper were true, whereupon he the said Archbishop by the King's 
comand did subscribe it by way of attestacon just above the Lord Chancellor's 
name which he found subscribed to it before. 

The Lord Chancellor deposed that on Sunday the twelfth of January in the 
morning at Whitehall, after his Majesty returned from chappell, his Majesty 
comanded him to wait upon his Majefty alone in his inner closet by the water 
aide* and there read to him the paper now showae, written all with hisMajestyc's 



APPENDIX, N*7. [Ur| 

owne hand, and subscribed Charles R. but not sealed, and hisMajestie comanded 
him the said Lord Chancellor to write his name as a witnesse to it. The Lord 
Chancellor said it was fit for his Majesty in the first place to add by way of 
postscript And this declaracon I make in the p^sence of. which his Majesty did 
iihediately write with his owne hand. Then he the said Lord Chancellor desired 
to know of his Majesty what other witnesses he intended to call to it, that he the 
•aid Lord Chancellor might write his name at a due distance ; his Majesty was 
pleased to say he would have him and the two secretaries. The Lord 
Chancellor then told him that to a businesse of this nature the most proper 
witnesse that could be called was the Archbishop of Canterbury : So he the said 
Lord Chancellor left a space for # his the said Archbishop's name, and subscribed 
his owne as it now stands. 

The said Henry Coventry deposed that both the former hands were sett to it 
before he subscribed it, and that he did subscribe itt ; and that this produced ifc 
the very same paper, and that the King said It was his owne hand and protested 
the truth of it. 

The said Sir Joseph Williamson deposed that the King called him into the 
inner closet and read the declaracon, and bid him read it, and that the King did 
declare in the Jsence of God that it was his declaracon j and declared the truth 
of it, and that he was never married to Mrs. Barlow. 

. Then the second declaracon was read, and alsoe the coppy of it, as it is entrcd 
in the Councell Bookcs j and they being examined and compared agreed exactly, 
being in the words & figures following : 

For the avoiding of any dispute which may happen in time to come concerning 
the succession of the crowne I doe here declare in the Jsence of Almighty God 
that I never gave nor made any contract of marriage, nor was married to any 
woman whatsoever but to my psent wife Queene Catherine now living* 
Whitehall the Third of March i6jv, Charles R. 



pxii] APPENDIX, N°7. 

After which imediately follow in the Councell Bookes the words and Letters 
following. His Majesty cofhanded us who were jJsent att the makeing and 
signing this declaration to attest the same. 

Finch C. Danby. Lauderdale. Worcester. Essex. Bathe. Craven. 
Aylesbury. Ossory. Arlingion. Sunderland. Clarendon. H. London. 
N. Durham. W. Maynard. G. Carteret. 

And then the persons whose names are above subscribed, being all of them 
psent excepte the Earle of Danby and the Bishop of Durham whoe were now 
absent and Sir George Carteret, who is now dead, did depose and sweare as fal- 
loweth that is to say: 

The Duke of Lauderdale uppon viewing the Councell Booke, did sweare that 
he heard the King declare it, and that theKing'sHand is to it, and his owne hand 
is to it, and that he saw the King signe it, and that it is the same as it is now 
entred. 

The Marquesse of Worcester did depose that the King produced the declaracon 
in Councell written and signed with his owne hand; and conianded that it should 
be entred ; that he saw the King sigue the entry, and that he did subscribe it in 
the booke by the King's comand ; and that he likewise heard his Majesty make 
the same declaracon by word of mouth. 

The Earle of Ossory deposed that the declaracon was entred in the Councell 
Booke by the King^s comand, and that the King did subscribe it, and that the 
Earle of Ossory himselfe did subscribe it by the King's comand. 

The Earle of Arlington deposed, that he doth remember his Mnjestie's pro- 
ducing in Councell the declaracon in paper, that the King did underwrite that 
in the Councell booke, being entred there by his coniand, and conianded that it 
should be soe underwritten as it is by several Lords psent, and remembers his 
owne name to be his owne hand writing. f e. 



APPENDIX, N« 7 . [lxm]; 

The Earle of Sunderland deposed that he heard the King declare it ; and 
comanded it should be soe underwritten as it is ; that he saw the King signe it, • 
and that he the Earle himselfe did subscribe it. 

. The Earle of Clarendon deposed that he heard the King make the declaracon 
and comanded it should be entred in the Councell Booke ; and that he saw the 
King signe it after it was entred. His Majesty then comanded the Lords who 
were jpfent to subscribe the same which they did, and he the said Earle subscribed 
it likewise. 

The Earle of Essex deposed that he heard the King declare the words ; and 
that the King did signe it and comand it should be entred and subscribed ; and it 
was done accordingly. 

The Earle of Bathe deposed that he heard the King make the declaracon ; and 
comand it should be entred and subscribed, which was done accordingly. That 
he saw the King signe the booke, and his the said Earle's name is to it as a 

witnesse. 

The Earle of Craven deposed that the King made the declaracon above men- 
coned ; and comanded it should be entred into the Councell Booke, which being 
done his Majesty signed it and required all the Lords then psent to signe it 
alsoe which was done accordingly by the said Earle. 

The Earle of Aylesbury deposed that he heard the King make the declaracon; 
and that he did signe it and comand it should be entred and that he the said 
Earle did subscribe it himselfe. . : 

The Bishop of London deposed that he heard the King declare it ; but he did 
not see the King signe it, but doth believe it is the King's hand; but he himselfe 
did subscribe it, and it is the same declaracon. 

The Lord Maynard deposed that he heard the King declare it, but did not see 
him signe it, being at the lower end of the table : That the King comanded it 
should be entred, and he himselfe did subscribe it. 



[IxivJ APPENDIX, N-7-- 

The Lord Chancellor deposed that he saw the King signc the declaracon, 
and that he comanded the Lords to take notice of it and that it should be entred 
and he himselfe did subscribe it and it is his hand that is to it. 

Sir John Nicholas, one of the Clerks of the Councell, deposed that he by the 
Kings corhand entred the declaracon with his owne hand in the Councell Bookc 
from the originall written in his Majesties owne hand, and it is the same, and 
that he saw the King and the Lords now psentand sworne subscribe the same; 
and that he saw the Earle of Danby, the Bishop of Durham, and Sir George 
Carteret late Vice-chambcrlaine to his Majesty subscribe it alsoe. 

William Bridgman and William Blathwayte Esquires, two clerkes of the 
Councell in extraordinary, depose that all that Sir John Nicholas had now sworne 
was true ; and that they saw his Majesty signe the declaracon in the Councell 
Booke, and the severall Lords above named subscribe the same. 

Whereupon it was ordered by the Court that the said declaracons and depo- 
eicons should be inrolkd in this Court for the safe pservacon and custody of 
them. 

Et memorand qd p mandatum jmonofclis viri Heneag dni Finch Baron dt 
Daventry dni Cancellar* Anglie in hec verba vidett (lett the declaracons and 
depositions aforesaid be entred and enrolled for safe custody in the Office of Th« 
Petty Bagg and Office of Enrollment!. H. Finch Cane) Declaracoes & depo- 
aicones j?di& de verbo in verbum prout j>scribunt r irrotulant r . 

Irf vicesimo die Augusti anno R. R. Caroli scdi pdei tricesimo secundo. 



AP P END IX, 'N°8. £rxv] 

Appendix, N° 8. 

REFERRED TO IN THE OBSERVATIONS, P. IOO. 



* An ACCOUNT of the Aftions and Behaviour of the Duke of Mon- 
mouth from the time he was taken to his execution. 

London, 16 th July 168$: 

J- HE Duke of Monmouth, from the time of his being taken in the West, 
shewd a wonderful concefnedness to save his life ; and stuck at nothing that 
could secure to him the. hopes of dooing it. His Majestie was the first, person 
that he made his application to, by a humble and submissive letter : the Queen 
Dowager, that formerly hade the reputation of being his friend, during his dis- 
grace with the late King, was not forgot : And my Lord Treasurer was impor- 
tuned on that same head. He thought he would not fail in his requeft to the King, 
if he would be so happy as to be admitted to the honour of seeing him in private; 
giving the King to underftand that he has such important maters to commu- 
nicate to his Majestie, that should secure his whole nations against the fear* 
and disturbances of rebellion and sedition ever after: And that by the satisfaction 
he imagines this discovery would give the King he doubted not, but in some 
measure, to deserve pardon upon this consideration. He was admitted to see the 
King at Mr. Griffin's; where, at his Majestie appearing, he fell down on his 
knee?, 8c with much earnestness begged his life, & his Majestie's pardon for 
wrhat he hade done. The King told him, of the latest. The substance in generall 
of what he told his Majestie, & as yet has come to my knowledge was: That he 

* From a Manufcript belonging to the Family of Buccleugh. 





[Ixvi] APPENDIX, N e 8. 

was deceived & impo-ed upon by a company of rogues and villans, that flattered 
him with the hopes & promises of achieving of great matters ; & that if he land 
once on English ground all the nation would appear for him ; that several cities 
& counties would declare for him at the first report of his being re?.dy to head 
them : That he had frequent encouradgements to undertake that unfortunate 
expedition : That his assumeing to himself the title of King, Sc causing the same 
to be proclaimed, was both against his judgement Sc inclination : But that it was 
ane artifice they made use of, to make him believe that by so doing, all the 
gentry, as well as the rabble, would come in to him : That Ferguson* was 
chiefly the person that instigat him to set up his title of King, & had been a 
main adviser and contriver of the whole'affair, as well to the attempting as acting 
what was done : That it was Ferguson that penned the declaration, 8c published 
it afterwards, 8c hade the greatest share in the worst designe 8c resolution that 
was taken : That the designe of invading the nation in that manner he did, was 
not formed three weeks or ane moneth before it was executed : That the supplyes of 
money came from private hands 8c none from publick. That one Look, an 
Anabaptist in Holland, hade helped him to a thousand pounds for his own 
share, 8c hade promised to have followed him into England in five i! 
landing there with a very considerable soume of money, that he assured him 
would be gathered amongst persons of his own acquaintance Sc well affected to 
the designe : That it was by much importunity of these rogues he was prevailed 
upon to take that expedition. This is what I have learned of what passed in ge- 
neral ; but as to particular persons and things, 1 have no light into. 

That night he was carried away to the tower -, 8c the Dnchesa his l...!y, 
haveing obtained leave of his Mnjestie to see him, and desircing my Lord 
Privie Seall might be by all the while, that no discourse might pa>s be<wixt them 
but what was fitting his Majesty should know, was conducted to him by his Lo. 
The first interview was melancholy enough. He saluted her, 8c told her he was 
very glade to see her : Most of the discourse that pas.ed afterward w.;s directed 



APPENDIX, N° 8. [lxvii] 

to my Lord Privy Seall, & insisted of much what he had said to hJs Majestie, but 
inlarged on the topicks that might induce his Majestie to save his life ; fancieing 
withall, that he hoped that he hade given his Majestie satisfaction so as not to 
despair of pardon. That his Jife would be of service to the King, as knowing the 
bosome of all the disaffected persons in his dominion?, & therefore capable of all 
their ill designs 8c preventing therof against his person or government. The Lord 
Privie Seall told him that he hade no order or commission from his MajesUe to 
say any thing to him, but to wait on his Lady & conduct her to him. That if he 
had any thing to say to him in relation to his affairs and children, that he 
would lose no time in doing of it : That if he was not willing he should be 
present at what he had to say to his lady, he would withdraw into the next room : 
And for his hopes of satisfying the King, he knew best himself what was past 
betwixt them, and what ground he hade to hope when he parted from the king. 
At his being convinced now of the villany and knavery of these men that set 
him upon that false designe, and concurred with him in the execution of it, was 
no more then what was long before, haveing declared so frequently to the late 
King in the hearing of so many persons that they were knaves & villans j that 
Ferguson was a bloody rogue &alwayes advised to the cutting of throats, & how 
should it happen that he should suffer himself to be ruled and imposed upon by 
them. This was the substance of his Lo. discourse, to which at several times he 
made reply s, that he hade nothing to say to the Lady but what his Lo. might 
jafely hear : That he was oblidged to his Lo. for the great friendship & kindness 
he was pleased to shew her, for the last in particular. But the notion of hopeing 

for pardon running strangely in his head as done Nothing 

was called of what always came in, askeing frequently if there were no hopes of 
mercy, alleadgeing that his . . . desire he hade of makeing the King's reignc 
happy & easie, which he fancied would certainlie happen if his life were spared. 
Then the Duchess took the liberty to . interrupt him in these digressions and 
imaginary expectations of life, Sc after seme general things asked him, If ever she 
hade the least notice & correspondence with him about these matters ? or hade 
Pa] 



[lxviii] APPENDIX, N» 8. 

.ever assented to or approved of his conduct during those 4 or 5 last years ; if ever 
she hade done any thing in the whole course of her life to displease or disoblidge 
him or ever was uneasie to him in any thing but two, one as to his women, 
& the other for his disobedience to the late King, whom she always took the 
liberty to advyse him to obey 8c never was pleased with the disobedient course of 
life he lived in towards him ? If in any thing else she had failed of the duty 
& dbedience that became her as his wife, she humbly begged the favour to dis- 
claim it, & she would fall down on her knees 8c beg his pardone for it. To 
which moving discourse he answered, that she hade always shewen herself a 
very kind, loveing 8c dutiful wife toward him, 8c hade nothing imagineable to 
charge her with ; either against her virtue & duty to him, her steady loyalty 8c 
affection to the late King, or kindness and affection towards his children : That 
she was alwayes averse to the practise of his life and behaviour towards the late 
King 8c advised to great complyance and obedience towards his commands. 

This is in short what was most remarkable in the firfl interview 8c conversa- 
tion. JMunday night, the nixt day, the intimation of his execution to be on 
Wednesday thereafter, was first brought to hfm by the Bishops of Eli, Bath and 
Wales, who stayed the most of the day 8c night with him. All the while he im- 
portuned more of his former acquaintance, especially such as he thought to have 
any credit or interest with the King, to intercede for him ; at least for a longer res- 
pyte. The Lord Annandale 8c the Lord Dover were frequently sent for to come 
8c speak with him. The latter not being in. town, could not give him that satis- 
faction he promised himself if he saw him. The first hade leave to go 8c sec 
him ; & the business was, that he would be pleased to go 8c wait on his Ma- 
jestie, 8c reinforce the arguments he hade formerly used towards the saving of his 
life. The Queen hade a letter from him to that purpose, as also the Queen 
Dowager. But all signified nothing. And when he saw all his endeavours 8c 
solicitations to be unsuccessful^ he laved down his hope of liveing 8c bethought 
himself of the well-employing the few hours that remained. 



APPENDIX, N° 8. [Ixix] 

The two Bishops I named were attending to the last minute upon the scaffold, 
as also Doctor Hooper, Doctor Tinnison of S l Martine's in the Fields, whom he 
usually heard when he lived in London, before his first disgrace. The heads of 
the Divines discourse with him, was to make him sensible of the former course 
of life he led & of the rebellious part of the last of it ; he haveing abandoned 
himself to all sorts of lusts without regard to the laws of God or man : and 
liyeing for the last two years in the public practise of it with the Lady Henrietta 
Wentworth. Moll of their discourse insisted upon these two things ; 8c their 
chief labour was to make him sensible how grievous & unpardonable these crimes 
were, unless humbly confessed 8c sincerely repented of. The substance of what 
he said to both these points was ■, That he was none of those whom the world 
called Atheists, that believed not a Supreme Being or future state, that with all 
profound respect & suitable adoration he believed both ; that he was of the reli- 
gion of the Church of England, and believed all the articles 8c doctrine of it, 
without excepting any y that it was too true that he hade for a long time lived a 
very dissolute 8c irregular. life,. 8c being guilty of frequent breaches of the con- 
jugall vow : That he hade oft humbled himself for it before God, 8c hoped he 
would pardone Lim : That as for his conversation with the Lady Henrietta 
Wentworth, whom the world had much aspersed because of that, he knew her 
to be a vertuous and godly lady (these were his own words) k, far from de- 
serving the unkind censure she ly's under on his accompt; that it is true 
that their conversation was very intimate together ; & whatever was of it 
he had consulted God in prayer about it, to know his pleasure &c ap- 
probation, & had not met with anie returne that marked his dislike or discoun- 
tenanceing of their conversation : that for the last two yeares he had made it 
his business to lead a more sober 8c regular course of life then, he had done 
before, & especially to guard himself against the sins of incontinencie 8c lust ; 
towards the effecting therof he did what he could to subdew & mortifie his body- 
by frequent fasting 8c prayer & had not the temptatione of anie irregular desire 
or appetite towards that lady, but was the farthest from it in the worlde;. but if 



[lxx] APPENDIX, No 8. 

at anie tyme through inadvertencie or sudenlie of passione ane oath proceeded 
from him, he seldom faillzied of retyreing himself, & beging God pardone for 
it : And as to the other point he said it was true he offended the King in invading 
the nation in ane hostile way, St that it was his misfortune to be . . . into it 
by ... . persuasiones of ill men that haunted his companie : That he was sorrie 
for it, and beged God pardone for it Sc the King ; that he owned the King to 
be the only true and lawfull King & renunced &c disclaimed all title Sc preten- 
tions to the croune, the leat King having told him he was not his lawfull son, 
which did abundantly remove from him all the hopes Sc notiones wherwith he 
might have flattered himself with ; this last pairt he wrote & signed with his 
hand to be delyvered to his Majestie Sc published to the world, the two Biiho;s 
and two Doctors having signed as witnesses to it. 

This branch of his discourse pleased them more than the former ; which he 
perceiving Sc desyring he might have the sacrament, but they finding him not 
qualified for it by reasone of his not owening his sinfullnes of his conver-atione 
with that lady, nor ane signe off repentance for what had bein betwixt them, 
thought fitt to refuse him. They laboured much to remove that erroneous opinione 
that betrayed to that unjustifiable conversatione with her, of which the world 
has talked soe scandalouslie of Lite years. JThey told him by noe law cv.r 
observed or practised amongst Christians, no by anie law of the land, 
could it be allowed him to have anie other woman but his wrfc, that 
he was lawfullie marred to Sc had solemnly vowed to have none other 
dureing his lyfetyme : That of nccessitie, for all that her virtue & goodnes 
that he talked of, she must be cither his whore or his wife; this she could 
not be because he was married before to his l.idy the Dutches of Monmouth, 
& had lawfull begoten chikleren of her, and the !.. How of tuo • 

for she most neids be no better than his whore, of which he had reasone to repent 
Sc acknowledge his guilt. To which he said, that when he was married to the 
Dutches of Monmouth he was verie young, Sc underage, Sc did not weel know 



APPENDIX, N° 8. [Ixxi] 

what he did or obleidge himself to performe on that accompt : That he had not 
that perfect love & affe&ione for her that either she deserved or he wished him- 
self to have had towards her, which was the occasione of his goeing so frequently 
astray from her & the running after other women : That the Ladie Henrieta 
Wentworth was the persone in the world that cured him of that wandring appe- 
tite, haveing mett with in her conversation all the blessings he could promise 
himself or expect : That they had consulted God by prayer & fasting about it, 
& was satisfied in their consciences of the innocencie & sinceritie of the inten- 
tione ; and talking thus enthusiastically on that head, and giveing noe better rea- 
sone for his opinione & practice then what is her sett doune, he went on to the 
great amazement of those learned & pious divynes. And to interrupt him, one 
of them asked him, If he allowed of poligamie, of fornicatione, & adulterie, or 
thought them to be sins. He answered by a full disowening of poligamie, adul- 
terie & fornicatione ; & believed them to be damnable sins, which unles repented 
of, they who are guilty of them cannot be saved. Yet for all this they could 
not disengadge him of these od notiones he intertainedofFhis conversatione with 
that ladie. Aneother asked, if he owned the Dutches of Monmouth to be his 
lawfull wife, and his childeren to be his lawfull childeren? To which he replyed* 
That she was his lawfull wife & he owened her as such -> that his childeren were 
his lawfull begotten childeren. This is in substance what passed on Tues- 
daye. 

On Wednesdaye untill he was led furth to executione the divines continowed 
& renued their pious endeavours to prepaire him for aneother world. Frequent 
pious discourses and repeated prayeres were used by all of them. Sometymes 
they prayed with him, & sometymes he was left to praye himself alone. His 
behaviour all the tyme was brave & unmoved, & even dureing the last conversa- 
tione & farewell with his ladie and childeren, which was the mourningest scene 
in the world, and noe bystanderes could see it without melting in teares, he did 
not shew the least consernedness. He declared before all the companie how 



[lxxii] APPENDIX,N»8. 

averse his Duches had bein to all his irregular courses ; that she had never bein 
unease to him on any occasione whatsomever, but about women and his faillzing 
of dute to the leat King ; 8c that she knew nothing of his last designe, not having 
heard from himself a year before, which was his owen fault, 8c noe unkyndnes 
in her, because she knew not how to direct her letteres to him. In that he gave 
her the kindest character that could be, 8c begcd her pardone of his many failze- 
ings and offences to her, and prayed her to continow her kyndnes and caire to 
his poor childeren. At this expression she fell down on her knees with her eyes 
full of teares, and beged him to pardone her if ever she had done any thing to 
offend and displease him, and imbraceing his knees fell into a sound, out of 
which they had much adoe to raise her up in a good whyll after. A little before 
his childeren were brought to him, all crying about him; but heacquytt himself 
of these adewes with much composednes 8c sinceritie of temper, shewing no- 
thing of weaknesor unmanlienes. 

About tenacloak he was carried out of the tower in coach. And after have- 
ing passed the bridge was deiyvercd into the Shcrifs hands, who led him alonge 
up to the scaffold. Noe man observed more couradge, rcsolutione & unconcern- 
ednes in him, any time before then appeired in him all the whyll he walked 
to the scafold, while he mounted the scafold, and whyll he aded the last pairt 
upon it. As he walked to it all the horse 8c foot guards were drawn up round 
about the scaffold on Towerhill. He saluted the guards 8c smylcd upon them. 
When he was upon it, the Sherif asked him if lie had any thing to say. He 
told him he was never good at the makeing of speeches b would not begin 
now ; for he was sure he would not be heard ; & it he were it would signitie 
nothing. Only he told him he had on thing to save which related to the re- 
putatione of a verie vertuous 8: worthie young ladie, which had suffered much 
on his accompt, 8c therefore would give the world that publick & la>t testimonie 
of her innocencie & vertue ; 8c so run on in her comendatione, till that the 
Sherif interrupted him, by arsking if he wa6 married to her, that he took soe 



APPENDIX, N'8. [lxxiii] 

much paines to vindicate the familiaritie of his conversatione with her. To 
which the Duek ansuered with some motione, that it was no tyme now to 
answer particular questiones ; he being full of her ever to the verie last, could 
not forbear concludeing his lyfe with breacking furth the last testimonie of his 
esteem & affe&ione to her. He declared that he dyed in the belief of the 
doctrine of the Church of England. Then they went to prayer. He said amen, 
heartilie to all the articles of the Letanie, & prayed heartilie for the King. In 
his owen partikular prayeres, he desyred that God would pardone him all his 
knowen & unknowen sins ; especiallie those of the last pairt of his life, & the 
blood that had be in shed upon his accompt, if anie poor soul were lost upon 
that occasione, & not laye.it to.his chairge.- And the divines, addressing him 
anew, with a renuceing of that erroneous opinione about that ladie, he said, if 
he was mistaken in that opinione, he beged God pardone for it, & of all the 
consequences of it. 

After that the devotionarie & interrogatorie pairt had bein over, he went to 
that pairt of the scaffold where the block & ax laye. The axe he took into his 
hand, & felt the edge of it, saying to Jack Ketch, the executioner, that sure 
the ax did not feill as if it were sharp enough, & prayed him that he would doe 
his office weill, 8c not serve him as he was told he had done the late Lord 
Russell ; for if he gave him tuo stroaks, he would not promise him that he 
would lye still to receive the third ; & putting his hand in his pocket, gave him 
six guinies ; telling him, that if he did his dutie weell, he left six more in his 
servant's hands to be given him after he was dead, provyding he did his busines 
handsomely. All this he said with alse muche indifFerencie & unconeernednes 
as if he were giveing ordours for a sute of cloathes. Noe change nor altera- 
tione of countenance from the first unto the last ; but stript himself of his coat ; 
& haveing prayed, layed himself doune, & fitted his neck to the block, with 
all the calmnes of temper and composer of niynd that ever hath bein observed 
in any that mounted that fatall scafold before. He would have no cap to his 

w 



[lxxiv] APPENDIX, N'8. 

head, nor be bound, nor have anie thing on his feace ; Xc yett for all this, the 
botcherly dog, the executioner, did soe barbarously act his pairt, that he could 
not at fyve stroaks of the ax, sever the head from the body. At the first, which 
made only a slender dash in his necke, his body heaved up &c his head turned 
about ; the second stroak he made only a deeper dash, after which the body 
•moved; the third, not being the work, he threw away the ax, 8c said, God 
damne me, I can doe noc more, my heart fails me. The bystanders had much 
adoe to forbear throwing him over the scafold •, but made him take the ax againe, 
threatening to kill him if he did not doe his deutie better, which tuo stroaks 
more not being able to finish the work, he was fain at last to draw furth his 
long knife & with it to cutt of the remaining pairt of hi* neck. If there had 
not bein a guard before the shouldieres to conduct the executioner away, the 
people would have tome him to pieces, soe great was their indignatione at the 
barbarous usage of the leat Duck of Monmouth, receaved at his hand. There 
were many that had the superstitious curiositie of diping their handkerchiefs in 
■his blood, St carrcying it aw3y as a precious relique. 

Thus I have delyvered your Lo. a rude historicall draught of what has come 
to my knowledge from originall hands, concerning the last three dayes of that 
unfortunate gentleman's life ; haveing marked the most substantiall Sc materiall 
thing I could gather from the tyrae he came to Whythall till the last aft of his 
life, & his cofline. They are soe unusuall & inconsistant in a maner that on 
knowes not how to reconceill them to ane other, & I am apt to beleive on shall 
hardly meitt in historie the life of ainc hero, ancient or moderne soe manic $ur- 
prysing 8c unsuteablc characters concurring in on persone to be excessivly fond 
of life, 8c yet verie unconcerned at paining with it. But these calculationes I 
leave to your wittes and philosopheres of the age. 

•He left noe other peaper, then that where these few lines were writt, where he 
•declared he had noe title or clame to the croune, because he was illegitimate, £c 



APPENDIX, N° 8. [lxxvl 

that the late King had told him and assured him of it ; wherefore he humbly 
beged the King that he would be pleased to be kynd to his poor childeren. The 
Dutchess of Monmouth has demained her self, dureing this severe tryall 8c dis- 
pensation of providence with all Christian temper & compositione of spirit, that 
possibly could appeir in a soule soe great 8c vertuous as hers. His Majestie 
is exceedingly satisfied with her conduct and deportment all alonge, and has as- 
sured her that he will take a cair of her 8c her. childeren. In the afternoone 
many ladies went and payed the complement of condolance to her, 8c when they 
had told her how great reasone she had to bear this dispensatione with that ver- 
tue that has appeired alwayes in the acliones of her life, and how the world 
celebrated her prudencie 8c conduct dureing her late Lord's disloyaltje and be- 
haviour to the late king, and his unkyndnes to her; that justly gave her a name 
that few of the former or present ages ever arryved at. To which she modestly 
replyed, that she had bought that comendatione dean 

I forgot to tell your Lo. that among other- discourses that past betwixt her 
husband 8c her, she declared that for the last four or fyve yeares she had re- 
ceaved but out of her estate in Scotland nool. ; all the rest being employed by 
him. He was cloathed in a gray cloath sute, plaine linings 8c dark periwig. His 
bodie & head was put into a coffine, 8c that into a black hearse. 

My Lord, 

Your Lordship's 

I.F. 



P**J 



[lxxvi] APPENDIX, N 8 9. 



Appendix, N° 9. 



DIARY of Sir Patrick Hume (who came over with King William) on 
the March from Exeter to London 16S8. 

MEMORANDA of the March from Exeter (a) . 

aVlONDAY 26 th Nove r I left Exeter & marched 15 miles to Honyton ; 27 to 
Exminster 8 miles thence to Crookhorn. 

2 8 ,h I marched 12 miles to Sherburn ; where I stay'd the 29 th . 30 th the Prince 
quartered at Winekanlon : I quartered 5 miles forward, 1 2 in all, at Mere in 
Wiltshire. 

(b) I st of Dec r the Prince quartered at Hindon 10 miles: I quartered that 
night & Sunday the 2 d at Fonthill GifFord, in Squire Cottington a papist's 
house. 



{a) Sir Edward Seymor was left governour at Exeter ; and Major Gibson comandant 
of the garison. 

E. Leven's regiment was left at Topsom, near Exmouth. 

(b) Seteral of K. Ja's horse & dragoons came in to the P. at Hindon. 

Monday 19 Nove. K. Ja. came to Salisbury. Tuesday viewing the plaines on horse- 
back to choose a camp, he fell in excessive bleeding at the nose, was 4 times let blood 
that week & parted toward London on Saturday the 24th. 



APPENDIX, N° 9. [Ixxvii] 

Monday 3* Dece r the Prince stay'd, & I marched on 6 miles to W . . . . that 
morning ambassador Siters of Holland came to the Prince ; also an express from 
the E. of Feversham, generall of K. James his army, by his order, desiring a safe 
conduct for some to be sent, which was granted. Tuesday the 4 th the Prince 
came to Salisburie 9 miles where we quartered, here many of the first rank came 
in to the Prince. 

The E. of Oxford came in on Tuesday at Salisburie, P. George ; the D. of 
Ormond, the E. of Drumlanrig, came in at Sherborn Friday Nov 1 30. 

The Princess of Denmark escaped from Whitehall in nightgoun & slippers 
& came to the Bishop of London's house ; thence to the E. of Devonshire at 
Nottingham. 

The E. of Shrewsbury was sent to sease Bristoll ; but it was given up to the 
L d Lovelace for the Prince before he came at it. 

The graev Van Strum was sent from Sherburn to the fleet at Exmouth to go 
for Holland. 

Friday the 7 th the Prince came to Hungerfoord, & we went to Chilton & quar- 
tered in Doctor Parker's. 

Upon Wednesday the 5 th had a trumpet come from K. James his comissioners 
shewing that they were upon their way. 

On Saturday the 8* the comissioners came to Hungerfoord viz. the Marq. 
Halifax, E. of Nottingham h L. Godolphin : the foot guards were drawen up & 
drums beat as they passed. The Prince called several English nobles to him •, 
then Mons* Bentink, L d Chamerlane, led the comissioners in to the Prince : 
They had desired to treat with him in privat, but he refused, without the Eng- 
lish Lords present. 

t4 



[lxxviii] APPENDIX, N° 9. 

Within a litle they were led to another room & the Earles of Oxford 8c 
Clarenden,' & Mareshall Scomberg were sent by the P. to heare them, they told 
that the K. had designed to call a parlement \ but the P. his coming with his 
army had stopped it, but that now finding a great inclination of the people to it, 
he has resolved to do it ; they therefore desired that the P. w d advance with his 
army no farder j that the parlement may meet in London whither all the Peers, 
even those joined with the P., may freely come upon a general indemnity to be 
given. It was answered, that the P. his army being now parted from Salisburie 
could not stop sooner then Oxford or London : hut if the parlement sitt free, the 
K. and all his forces must part as far from London on the one side, as the P. is 
on the other ; that so the parlement, with which only the K. is to treat Sc not 
with the Prince, may do it freely 8c safely. 

Then the Commissioners dined with the P. who ftayd some houres after dinner 
with them in a great company of nobles and such as came in to him ; then they 
took leav and left the towne. Now the K. discharged all papists from civiil 
imployments. 

Saturday and Sunday the P. stayd at Hungerfoord : we went to Enkpen in 
Barkshire. Monday the P. went on to Newberry: we to Padworth 14 mile*. 

Tuesday the P. went to Abbington •, we to Drayton 17 miles. 

Wednesday the P. went to Wallingford ; wee to Oxford 6 miles. 

Thursday we went to the P. at Wallingford, and thence with him to Henlie, 
18 miles. 

Friday the P. came to Winsor, we to Hounslow 20 miles. 

Saturday 15 th we came into London. 



APPENDIX, N« 9. [lxxixj 

Sunday the K. came through the city in coach ; his horse guards attending, 
to Whitehall. 



Monday the P. came to Zion House, and lodged with the Countess of Nor- 
thumberland. 

Tuesday morning the K. went under the Prince's guards to Rochester. 

About noone the P. entered Westminster, with great acclamation & tokens of 
joy among the people, 8c ringing of bells and bonfires at night : he lodged in 
St. James's. That day a meeting of the Lords Spiritual &t TemporalL declared 
for the Prince. 

Wednesday some Bishops 8c many Lords came to salute the P. 8c to giye hint 
welcom. 



[lxxx] A P P E N D I X, N° io. 

Appendix, N° 10. 



Chara&er of William Prince of Orange, afterwards King of England, 
extracted from a long Letter in the hand-writing of Sir Patrick Hume, 
signed P. Hume, dated June 15th, 1688. 

The Piince of Orange, grandchild of great Prince William, murthered by 
the papists at Delfe, and of the great Admiral of France ~, murtkered in the 
masacre of Paris, the two grand combatters for the Protestants. One for doclrine 
bred a Calvinist; for religious praaice, who excells most men so high in quality, 
& equall to the most part of whatever rank, of the serious and sincere in that 
communion, he being for virtue and good morals beyond many ; those human 
infirmities naturall to poor mankind, and consistent with seriousness in religion, 
breaking as litle out, either for degree or frequence from him, as from most 
part of good men, and not being habitual to him ; one of a mild and courteous 
temper ; of a plain ingenuous and honest nature ; of a humane gay and affable 
carriage, without any token of pride or disdain j one educated and brought up in 
a Republike as free as any in the world, and enured to the freedom allowed by 
it, and possessed in it : His greatest enemie, if he knew him, or my greater 
enemie, if he read this, must find his own conscience witnessing to his face 
that what I have said is true as to the Trince ; and that I am one of more worth 
than to sullie my argument with a flaunting hyperbolie even in favour of a 
Prince. 

* Prince William married Louise, daughter of the Admiral de Coligni, the widow of 
Teligni; who, as well as his father-in-law, was murdered in the massacre ot bt. Bar- 
tholemew. 

THE TND. 



Strafcan and Preston, 
New- Streel Square, 



JL HE AUTHOR having stated * that the only attempt to exercise torture ia 
England to be met with, was a proposition made in Council by Laud, then 
Bishop of London, to have Felton put to the rack, (except when a design was 
laid to introduce the Civil Law in England in the reign of Henry the Sixth,) 
he thinks it right to obferve, that on the day these sheets came from the press, 
it occurred to him, that mention is made in our History of persons having been 
put to the rack, in order to extort confessions in cases of treason, in Queen 
Mary's time f. But when it is considered that the unanimous declaration of 
the Judges, referred to in Felton's case, was made little more than seventy years 
after Wyatt's Rebellion in 1554, and the pretended Conspiracy in 1555, it 
must be evident that those Judges did not consider the law as doubtful, even 
if the facts were true. 

* P. 181 of the Observations. 

f See the Introduction to Camden's History of Queen Elizabeth, p.. 11, and 
Rapin's History, 8vo. 1729, vol. viii. p. 190. 



P] 



ERRATA. 

In the Text, of the Observations, 

p. 210, 1. 20, for Lyme read Torbay. 

In the Notes, 

p. 22, 1. 6, for Lang read Laing. 

p. 47, 1. 6, for Affections read Affe&ion. 

p. 62, after Vol. ii. dele Part i. 

p 64, ditto ditto 

p. 154, last line, for «ont read seat. 



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